Whatever Will Be, Will Be
by Bella.Diggory
Summary: Hermione is in an abusive relationship with Draco, she wants out, but he'd rather kill her than lose her. So what happen's when Viktor Krum comes into the mix? Will his love for Hermione be enough to save her? Rated M for violence.
1. Look Out!

**Whatever Will Be, Will Be**

Chapter One: Look Out!

"You're so stupid!" Draco shouted as he threw his hands into the air. "The most useless thing alive, you can't do anything right!" He told her as he slapped her hard across the cheeks. "Why I ever thought _you _could do something like _this_ is besides me. Move!" He told her before slamming her up against the wall. "Honestly Hermione, I thought you were supposed to be the smartest girl in the school! But as it turns out the only intelligent thing you have done is get with me."

Hermione stood with her hands raised in surrender as Draco began fiddling with his broken wand. "You can't med a broken wand, Draco." She tried to tell him. "Ron broke his in second year and-"

"_Ugh! _You mean I have done the same thing as that filthy redheaded weasel!?" Draco asked in disgust as the splinters on his broken wand pierced there way into his pale skin. "OW!" He shrieked as he pulled his hand away from the severed wand and shook it; small amounts of blood flinging into the air.

"Don't talk about my friends like that." Hermione told him as the boy continued shaking at his bleeding hand.

"I don't see why you're still friends with them anyways, I've told you you're better off without them." He told her as be brought his hand up to his mouth and began sucking away at the blood. "And besides," He added. "It was your head that broke my wand, all I did was give it the force to break, but it was the impact of your head that did it." He laughed as Hermione felt along the small goose-egg bruise that had been left from the said incident.

"Yeah," She agreed in a small voice. "I guess it was my fault... I'm sorry Draco, will you please forgive me?" _For not listening to Harry and Ron in the first place and getting with you. _

"There she is," Draco smiled happily as he walked over to his girlfriend and wrapped his once-loving arms around her; kissing her deeply as he pressed her body up against the wall. "You know I love you darling, but you mustn't aggravate me so much, I don't want to damage your pretty little face." He said softly as he ran his fingers along the yellow and green bruises he had given her last week.

"You're right Draco." She smiled obediently as she looked into his cold grey eyes.

"Yes I am, I always am." He agreed. "And you're not, that's just something you are going to have to get used to love." He told her before leaning into kiss her one last time.

* * *

"Hermione?" Ron asked awkwardly as his brown eyed friend appeared beside him. "What're you doing here? I thought you'd be in the ministers box with _Draco_."

"No," She shook her head. "They didn't have enough tickets, so I told him I'd be fine to come and watch the game with you. Unless of course that'll be a problem?" She asked as she looked over at Arthur Weasley with a nervous expression.

"You're always welcome to be any place the family is Hermione, you know that." He smiled. "Even if you have turned to the dark side." He added; referring to her recent choice in relationships. AKA: the Malfoy's.

Ignoring his comment, she smiled. "Thank you Mr. Weasley."

"Of course dear." He told her before turning his attention back to the playing field.

"They didn't have enough tickets?" Ron asked. "What, poor daddy Malfoy couldn't afford one more for you?" He said with spite.

"Honestly Ron, if this is going to be a problem I can just-"

"No." He told her. "I'm being a jerk Hermione... I'm sorry. I just don't understand what you see in him, that's all. I'll try and be cool... for _your _sake." He added as he nudged her shoulder with his playfully; a wide smile on his face.

"Thanks Ron." She smiled as she wrapped her arms around his bicep and leaned her head onto his shoulder. "You've no idea how much our friendship means to me." She told him as she squeezed onto his arm.

"Me too Hermione," He agreed with a deep sigh; secretly wishing she would stay there forever. "Me too."

* * *

"THE IRISH!" Fred and George shouted in unison as the stands began roaring with applause; Hermione pulled herself away from Ron's arm and looked out onto the field which was now swarming with green and silver Quidditch players.

"Yeah!" Fred shouted loudly.

"Woo!" George added as they both began hooting and hollering and clapping their hands together.

"And now..." They started in unison. "THE BULGARIANS!!" The stands applause seemed to double in volume as the name 'Krum' was chanted throughout the auditorium.

"Who's that!?" Hermione shouted over the noise.

"It's Viktor Krum!" Ron shouted back. "Best seeker in the world! And youngest too!" He said with a love-stuck expression as he looked out onto the said seeker.

"I've never heard of him!" She told him; he laughed.

"I'm not surprised 'Mione, I mean how much attention do you really pay to the game when it isn't Harry playing it!?" He asked as he looked over at her with a wide grin on his face.

"Good point!" She agreed as they both looked back onto the field.

Hermione began hooting and hollering with the crowds; deciding, due to team colors, to vote for the Bulgarians. Green and silver reminded her much too much of Slytherin, and Slytherin reminded her far too much of Draco, and she thought about Draco too often as is. But tonight, as she stood side by side with her friend Ronald, she decided that Draco was simply obsolete.

"It appears that Krum has spotted the snitch!" The announcer called.

"Yeah!" Hermione called loudly; surprising herself. "Go Krum! Woo!"

"Hermione!" Ron called with even more volume.

She smiled and looked over at him. "No! Hermione!" He told her.

"LOOK OUT!" Arthur, Ron, Cedric, Amos and the twins called as they pointed to a speeding bludger that was headed right towards her. "HERMIONE!"

She turned back towards the field and-

BOOM!

TBC


	2. Eyes in the Sky

**Takes place during their fourth year, with a few changes.**

**YouTube video recommendation: 'Telephone' by Lady Gaga and Beyonce**

* * *

**Whatever Will Be, Will Be**

Chapter Two: Eyes in the Sky

"Viktor Krum!" Ron shouted as Hermione placed her hand upon her chest and let out a roar of laughter. "Viktor Krum just saved your life!" He announced as Hermione placed her forehead in her hand and vibrated with adrenaline filled giggles.

"That was a right good scare there!" Arthur laughed as the group looked over at the giggling girl. "You alright Hermione?" He asked.

She nodded and got out a faint _yeah_ through her laughs and heavy breaths. "I'm fine!" She managed and the group all sighed in relief.

"He's like the wind that one!" Fred shouted as they all looked out onto the field at the said seeker who was now making small circles above the field.

"And thank Merlin for that Fred!" George told him. "Without him we might've had a nearly-headless-Hermione on our hands!" He finished as the two began laughing.

"Ignore them Hermione," Ginny began. "You wouldn't have been nearly headless. People get hit by bludger's all the time, the worst you'd get would be a broken nose or black eye." She told her friend before looking over at her two obnoxious brothers.

"She's right you know." Cedric told her as he appeared beside her. "I play seeker for Hufflepuff, and I've seen plenty of people get knocked around by the bludger's." He explained. "There the most dangerous part about the game. There not really fatal but they hurt like hell if you get hit by them, broke my arm back in third year."

Hermione looked at the boy in a dazed way. "Oh, sorry, Cedric Diggory." He told her as he shook his head and extended his hand graciously towards her.

"Yeah, I know." She told him as she let out a huffing laugh. "I am just still sort of in shock from my _almost _accident."

"Yeah," He laughed. "That was a close one, but luckily Krum is as good as they say."

She knitted her eyebrows together. "Like the wind I mean, none of us saw him coming, and yet here you are, not a scratch on you." He told her with a smile before running his fingertips along her cheeks; his smile slowly fading into a curious and confused frown as he noticed the faint bruising along various places on her skin.

"Yeah, yeah I'm lucky Krum's so fast." She agreed as she turned her face away from him and looked out onto the field with her arms crossed atop the railing.

She could see him still facing her and looking at her with the same dumbfounded expression as he said softly. "Yes, yes you are."

"Yeah." She agreed again as she looked up towards the night sky and met the eyes of none other than Viktor Krum, who had been watching her since the moment he had saved her.

* * *

"Come on Hermione!" Ginny begged as she reached out for her friends hand. "Come celebrate with us!" She was smiling and willing Hermione to follow her, but to no avail.

"I wish I could, but I can't." Hermione told her with sympathy. "I promised Draco I'd meet him after the game." She said with a small smile and her eyebrows drawn together.

"Oh no," Fred began.

"Wouldn't want to keep poor Drakie-Drake waiting now would we?" George finished.

"Shut up you two!" Ginny scolded them as they walked past the two girls and into the tent. "Honestly." She added softly before looking back at Hermione.

Hermione shook her head and looked down at the ground. "There right though Gin, I probably should get going. He's probably wondering where I am."

"Oh," Ginny said with disappointment. "Well, I guess I'll see you later then." She told her. "Bye Hermione." She said with a small smile before turning to leave.

"Bye Ginny."

* * *

As Hermione walked through the small aisles between tents, she felt a pang in her stomach of guilt in disappointing Ginny as she did.

She really did miss spending time with her, with all her friends. She wished she could go back to the Weasley's tent and celebrate Ireland's victory with them, but she knew she couldn't. Her boyfriend was waiting for her and she knew the consequences that would befall on her if she chose her friends over him. It had happened one too many times before and she wasn't going to risk it happening again.

"Oh, sorry." She mumbled as she bumped into a fairly tall sandy blond.

"It's fi..." The boy began. "Hermione? What're you doing over here?" Cedric Diggory asked with a curious expression. "I thought you'd be back celebrating with the Weasley's? I'm headed there now so if you want we can wal-"

"Actually I promised I'd meet my boyfriend after the game, and his tent is just up ahead." Hermione cut him off.

"Oh, well, then, um... I guess I'll see you later." He said awkwardly; not really knowing how he felt about Hermione being alone with her boyfriend after seeing the bruises on her face earlier.

He may not have known her well, but he did know that Draco Malfoy was bad news, and why a smart girl like Hermione had ever gotten with a Malfoy was besides him.

"Yeah, I'll probably see you as school." She told him with a nod. "But I really should be going, he's-"

"Say no more, I know when I am unwanted." He joked with a small laugh; lightening the mood for himself. "I'll see you later Hermione." He said with a smile as he began to walk away. "Oh, Hermione?" He added as he turned himself back around to face her again.

"Yes Cedric?" She asked him.

"Take care of yourself."

Hermione felt her heart sink as she watched him walk away. It was warm outside; comfortable even. But all she felt was the cold chills of realization. A lump of warm breath got stuck in her throat and she found it difficult to breathe, she tried and tried, but she just couldn't get any breath out.

* * *

"I really don't want to go back to school," Draco said calmly as he continued drawing small circles on the back of Hermione's hand which lay resting softly against his chest. "I've been thinking about just dropping out and continuing my studies elsewhere, but my father won't have it."

Hermione took a moment before responding. The moment they were sharing right now was gentle and rare, and she wanted to enjoy it as long as she could, because she never knew hold long moments like this would last. And right now they were alone, so it was even more special. She could just relax and pretend things were how they used to be.

"What d'you think?" He asked her.

"Well, I think it's a good idea to stay at Hogwarts." She told him truthfully. "I mean, we only have three years after this one, and then you can do whatever you want after we graduate. You won't have to worry about people watching you, because you will have already done what they wanted you to. You'll be able to live your life freely." She told him.

"Yeah," He said with a sigh as he pulled her tighter against his chest. "You're right, that'll be nice. Then father won't even be on my case so damn much and I can finally do what I want." He said as he looked down at the small girl in his arms. "I can marry you, have a family... I can finally have all of you." He told her as he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead softly against hers with a small frown.

Draco, being who he was, could have easily made Hermione give herself too him by simply taking without asking. But, he did however, understand all too clearly the seriousness in her words: _We can't risk getting me pregnant_.

"I love you Draco." Hermione whispered to him with her eyes closed softly.

"I know you do." He told her with a small smile before kissing her softly on her left temple. "I love you too, Hermione." He added in a faint whisper as she slowly drifted to sleep, in his once-loving arms.

* * *

Hermione shot awake with a quick intake of air; she rubbed her eyes and looked around to find herself alone in an empty tent with a blanket wrapped loosely around her. "Draco?" She called out softly, and waited patiently as no response came.

But something else did...

"_Ahhh!"_

"_Run!" _Someone called._ "Move!" _

"_GO! Run! Ahhhhhhhhhh!"_

"What is that?" Hermione asked herself as she knitted her eyebrows together and stood to walk across the room.

"_Run!" _She heard again as she made her way to the opening of the tent.

"_AHH!" _Someone cried out.

"What in the worl-" She began asking, but cut herself off as she opened the flap of the tent to find herself looking out onto hundreds of people screaming and running.

One of them looked at her and shouted. _"Are you crazy!? Run! They're death eaters!" _

"What!?" Hermione asked as she looked in the general direction that was behind the boy who had told her this.

As Hermione was beginning to loose the ability to breath again she thought: _How could Draco leave me here!? Alone! I am a muggle born, they'd kill me!_

She began to panic, not by the fear the death eaters made her feel, but by her boyfriend being able to do such a thing. And especially after what they had shared not an hour ago! How could he!?

She was pulled back into the present as a large warm hand wrapped itself around hers.

When she looked up to see who it was her eyes met with deep brown ones; they looked at her with curiosity, confusion and fascination. She couldn't believe he had come back for her... how he had saved her. Again.

Viktor Krum pulled her alongside him at lightening speed as they ran away from the screams.

Hermione couldn't speak; she could hardly breathe. What was going on, it was all too much to take in: Draco had left her alone, and now Viktor Krum, who had already saved her life once tonight, was pulling her away from sudden death... and he didn't even know her name.

_Why was he doing this?_

* * *

"You are safe now." He told her as they reached the opening of the woods.

"Thank you." Was all Hermione could muster herself to say.

TBC


	3. Her Guardian Angel: Part One

**Disclaimer: **Some lines in here (Dumbledore's, Crouch's) were taken from the forth movie. I do not own them, I did not write them.

* * *

**Whatever Will Be, Will Be**

Chapter Three: Her Guardian Angel, Part One

"How could you do that!?" Hermione shouted as tears continued streaming down her face. "You left me alone!" She repeated. "Alone! I am muggle born Draco! Do you really think they'd care if I was your girlfriend or not!?"

"Calm your mental ass down Hermione, it wasn't that bad." Draco told her.

"Calm down!?" Hermione asked. "Not that bad!? Draco! I could have been _killed!" _

"Hermione," Draco said in a suspiciously calm way. "Shut up!"

"Shut up!?" Hermione shrieked. "Shut up? No! No I am not going to shut up! You put my life in danger Draco! And you stand there like you did nothing wrong! I could have been killed because of you Draco!"

Draco looked at her with a blank expression before swiftly back handing her across the face. "Don't you EVER speak to me like that again!" He shouted. "And you know better than to say no to me!"

Hermione stood trembling against the wall as Draco took yet another step closer to her; pulling back his fist she crouched down and covered her face with her hands as she braced herself for the next stinging blow. Just as she was expecting the impact to meet her face the sound of the door swung open and a familiar voice soon followed. "I hope I am not interrupting anything." Cedric Diggory stated as he stood dumbfounded looking at the scene before him.

Draco stood frozen in place with his arm held high in the air as Hermione trembled with tears running down her red eyes as the two fourteen year olds looked at the older Hufflepuff in front of them.

He lowed his hand as Hermione withdrew her hands from her reddened face. "Yeah," Draco said. "As a matter of fact, you are. So if you don't mind, I would like to be alone with my girlfriend."

"As a matter of fact, Malfoy, I do mind." Cedric said as he began slowly walking towards the couple. "Because as it turns out, I have a bit of a problem with guys who beat up on their girlfriends." He told Draco before looking over at the trembling girl.

"I don't believe I asked your opinion, Diggory!" Draco shot back at him. "And besides, I don't remember the part where this is any of your business." He told him as he stepped to face his new-found enemy.

"Draco, let's just-" Hermione began softly.

"Shut up!" Draco shouted. "I don't think I asked for your opinion either! So just shut up, and let the adults do the talking, alright!?" Draco asked her with menace in his voice.

"Okay," She said weakly. "I'm sorry... I wasn't thinking." Hermione apologized as she looked down at her feet and let another cycle of tears fall from her eyes.

"Hermione, don't." Cedric told her softly as he looked over at her; she raised her head to meet his eyes. "You've nothing to apologize for, you did nothing wrong."

"Excuse me?" Draco asked. "When did I say you could speak to my girlfriend?"

"You didn't." Cedric said flatly. "Because last I check I have the right to speak with whomever I like. And right now I would like to speak with Hermione."

"Well isn't that a pity pretty boy." Draco said as he grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her against him. "Because we were just leaving, so I guess you'll have to have this conversation with her some other time." He told him as he wrapped his arm around his girlfriend and held her tight against his body. "Oh, wait, no you can't because Hermione doesn't want to talk to you." He said with a crooked grin. "Do you love?"

Hermione closed her eyes and said the only safe thing she could think of. "Stay away from me, Cedric."

"There you see, she isn't all useless. At least she knows what she is talking about." Draco said with a triumphant smile.

"Hermione," Cedric began. "You don't have to do this, he does not own you." He tried to convince her as he eyed the fresh bruise across her cheek.

Hermione looked up at him with wet eyes and a trembling chin. "Please Cedric, just leave me alone." Though that is what came from her lips, as he looked in her eyes what he saw was her begging: _Help me Cedric, please help me. _

With that Draco pulled Hermione alongside him as they began making their way to the Great Hall.

Cedric stood speechless as he watched the two of them leave; he just couldn't believe it. No matter how many times he had told himself that Hermione's being in an abusive relationship was just his imagination, he could no longer deny it. He had seen it, and he knew there was no greater proof than what one sees. And he had seen enough.

* * *

"Now we're all settled in and sorted," Dumbledore began as the Great Hall fell silent. "I'd like to make an announcement. This castle will not only be your home this year but home to some very special guests as well. You see Hogwarts has been chosen..." He was cut off as Argus Filch ran between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, the said man then ran to Dumbledore and whispered something in his ear and then headed back down the podium and out of the room.

A few students laughed from the sight of the old man running.

"So Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event." He went on. "The Tri-Wizard tournament. Now for those of you who do not know, the tri-wizard tournament brings together three schools for a series of magical contests. From each school a single contestant is selected to compete. Now let me be clear, if chosen you stand alone. And trust me when I say these contests are not for the faint hearted, but more of that later. For now please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies from Beauxbatons Academy of magic and their head mistress Madam Maxime."

"Hermione," Ginny began in a whisper as the girl's from the French school walked elegantly down the center aisle. "What was it about this time?" She asked, noticing the unending tears Hermione had been producing since her arrival in the great hall.

"Nothing," She whispered back. "It's nothing Ginny."

"Come on love, what were you and Draco fighting about?" The redhead persisted as Hermione wiped at her eyes.

"And now our friends from the north," Dumbledore said loudly; breaking the girl's focus on each other. "Please greet the proud sons Durmstrang and the high master Igor Karkaroff."

Hermione and Ginny looked up as the muscled men walked swiftly into the room; Hermione's breath got lost in her throat as...

"Blimey it's him!" Ron nearly shrieked. "Viktor Krum!"

Hermione pierced her lips for a second before looking back up again. And when she did her eye's met the all-but-too-familiar eyes of Viktor; the man who had saved her life twice.

The man who still didn't even know her name.

The man who was always there, watching her. Protecting her; _unseeingly_ protecting her.

And now he was here, _her guardian angel_... he was at her school, attending Hogwarts...

Attending the same school she did; the same school Draco did...

"You're attention please!" Dumbledore announced. "I would like to say a few words. Eternal glory, that is what awaits the student who wins the tri-wizard tournament. But to do this that student must survive three tasks. Three extremely dangerous tasks." He went on. "For that reason the ministry has seen fit to impose a new rule. To explain all this we have the head of the department of international magic cooperation Mister Bartimus Crouch."

The student's watched as the said man walked before Dumbledore and began speaking with his hands raised slightly to his sides. "After much deliberation the ministry has concluded that for their own safety no student under the age of seventeen shall be able to put forth their name for the tri-wizard tournament. This decision is final."

The room was immediately filled with screams and shouts, _boo's! _and _rubbish's! _

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore bellowed.

As the room fell silent the headmaster walked up to a large box and waved his hand in small circles around it; the students watched in awe as the box melted down to a large wooden goblet with blue flames springing from the top of it like a gentle candle.

"The goblet of fire. Anyone wishing to submit themselves for the tournament merely write their name upon a piece of parchment and throw it into the flame before this hour on Thursday night. Do not do so lightly, if chosen there's no turning back. As from this moment the tri-wizard tournament has begun."

TBC

* * *

**Sorry about the end there being so familiar; this chapter is the only time that will happen.**

**Stay tuned for chapter four: Her Guardian Angel, Part Two!**


	4. Her Guardian Angel: Part Two

**A/N: **Hello :) I have put a poll on my profile that has to do with this story… kind of. Anyways, I really would appreciate your taking it for me, it is important… enjoy the update!

**P.S.** It gets pretty graphic… just a warning to my younger readers!

* * *

**Whatever Will Be, Will Be**

Chapter Four: Her Guardian Angel, Part Two

**Hermione's POV**

I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks; cold, wet, sloppy… _uncontrollable. _They were nice though, they made me realize I could still control my own body. I wasn't sobbing or weeping, I wasn't making sad noises or sniffing my nose. I was just crying. A slight tremble filled my body that impaired my handwriting and made it slightly wavy, but I kept in under control. It wasn't illegible or sloppy, just slightly off, barley noticeable.

_To me, anyways._

Soft murmurs and whispers had once gone on throughout the library about me, people would come up and ask if I was alright, or if there was something I needed to talk about, and that they could help. I would just smile and shake my head and tell them some bogus story that I had made up on the spot. And then they'd leave. And that was it.

But now that was in the past, the murmurs had stopped.

A few of them knew the truth about the reason I cried, or, at least the gist. And those of them that did, they kept their mouths shut. For me, I guessed. It was just harder when the subject was brought up.

Draco was great, really. It's just sometimes I upset him, nothing big. People get upset, it's a natural human emotion, it's not a crime or anything. And by Draco getting upset and taking it out on me, it made me realize how much he cared about me, because he was willing to share his emotions and feelings with me.

But then… then there were those times when I would wonder. I would wonder what it would be like to have a relationship with someone who didn't get upset and hurt me. It was my own personal fairy tale, you could say. One of those things you would always dream about but never get, and that's just how things were.

Gasps and awes sounded throughout the library, causing me to look up to see what all the fuss was about. But I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, other than girls drooling and men shaking their head in sheer utter jealousy. But besides that, nothing.

"Weird," I mumbled to myself as I shook my head while looking back down to the book and parchment in front of me.

And that's when I heard them; heard footsteps walking casually in my direction. But again, I didn't think anything of it, and so my attention remained focused on where it ought to be. In my studies.

At first it was settle, brief. I could feel his eyes on me, studying me, really. It wasn't eerie or bothersome, but noticeable. And so, being like any other curious girl, I looked up.

"Vhy are you crying?" Viktor Krum asked softly with a look of sadness, tenderness and curiosity on his face.

"I um… I got something in both my eyes," I lied pathetically, "These books, they can be rather dusty. And it… it irritates my eyes." I told him before self-consciously looking back down at my work in front of me.

He took a moment to study me before responding. "Vhat is your name?" He asked softly.

"Um, Hermione Granger." I told him weakly as I looked back up at him.

"Vell, Hermione Granger… you are a terrible liar."

"You're not wrong." I laughed softly, "Anyways, I already know who you are, obviously… so we can just skip that introduction." I said softly before setting down my quill and closing my eyes, "Look, I know I am being really rude to you, and I have no reason to do that. You have been nothing but kind to me, saving my life twice! When you didn't have to. So, I am sorry, and, thank you." I smiled as I opened my eyes to look back up at him.

He leaned towards me from across the table and whispered in a near mute silence, "You are velcome, Hermione." He then leaned back in his chair and folded his arms stiffly across his chest, all the while keeping his eyes on me.

I slowly picked my quill back up and carried on with my work, scribbling the parchment with shallow amounts of ink as I read deeper and deeper into my book.

"Hermione," His voice startled me, causing me to jolt my hand and send my bottle of ink pouring out onto my work, "You're such a bloody klutz… can't you ever do anything without causing a mess?" Draco asked as he plopped down beside me, obviously oblivious to the muscular Bulgarian sitting just across the secluded table.

"You scared me…" I told him softly as I began dabbing at the spilled ink with a piece of clean, unused parchment.

"Obviously," He huffed, "Anyways, I needed t- crying again?" He asked with annoyance, "Really Hermione? I thought we talked about this already."

"I'm not crying… it's the dust." I lied.

"Lying… _again?_" He fumed.

"Sorry, I'm sorry," I apologized, "I just didn't want to worry you."

"Worry me?" He asked with a laugh, "The only thing that worries me is your pathetic behavior and lack of brains."

"I'm so-"

"Is there a problem here?" Viktor asked as he leaned forward, causing Draco and I to look in his direction.

"Oh, Krum, I didn't even see you there!" Draco sang out.

"Clearly." Viktor stated, "Now, vould you please answer my question… is there a problem between you two?" He asked, "And try your best not to lie, please."

"Problem?" Draco asked innocently, "No, no problem. I was just about to escort Hermione here back to her common room is all, her friends were looking for her."

"I see. So you vere just going to take her there and then be on your vay?" Viktor asked as he folded his arms across the table.

"Yes, that sounds accurate." Draco smiled before looking back at me, "Come Hermione, let's get your stuff together and I'll come clean this up for you later. Your friends are waiting for you, don't want to worry them." He told me in a lie so sly that it was only I who could pick up on it.

"Okay," I said simply as I pulled myself away from the bench and watched as Draco swiftly gathered my things for me. My eyes looked up only once and met Viktor's, he was looking at me with a gentle intensity that I couldn't quite read the meaning for. But regardless of purpose, I looked away from him and drew my attention to the safety of the ground beneath me.

"Alright, I've got everything." Draco told me quickly as he reached out to snatch my hand harshly in his, "Come on love." He commanded as he pinched my fingers beneath his, causing sheer agonizing pain to circulate up to elbow.

"See you later Krum." Draco waved with his hand full of books and papers.

Krum nodded once as we made our way quickly from my sanctuary of the library.

* * *

My books made a thick crashing noise as they were slammed violently to the floor of the abandon supply room, the parchment fluttered peacefully as they made soft crinkle noises on their descend to the ground. I watched them with intensity, focusing all of my attention to their movements as Draco passed back and forth angrily with his hand covering his mouth.

"What were you talking about?" He finally asked after several suspending moments of silence, "With Krum, what were you talking about?" He stammered, "And don't you dare lie to me." His soft whisper cut into my like knives.

"Nothing," I told him hoarsely, "We weren't talking at all."

"I said…" He began as he rushed his way over to me, "… DON'T LIE TO ME!" He bellowed allowed as he pounded his fist to the wall behind me.

"I- I- I'm not," I stuttered, "I was just working… he was just sitting at the same table."

"Oh really?" He whispered with intense authority, "And why is it that I don't believe you?" He wondered.

"Please," I begged, "I'm telling the truth… I've nothing to hide so why would I be lying? Just let me go to bed… please." I pleaded with weary, wet eyes.

"Okay," he nodded with a wicked grin on his face, "You want to go to bed Hermione?" He asked as he slid his hand down the length of my hair.

"Yes," I stammered nervously.

"Alright, my love, you can go to bed." He told me as he released his touch from me, "Go on, lie down." He commanded me as he pointed to an old dusky couch planted firmly in the far corner of the room.

"Wh- what?" I asked him as I looked slowly back and forth between him and the couch.

"You said you wanted to go to bed, and so do I." He told me as he bit his bottom lips and looked at me with a serious and determined expression, "So go over to that couch, and take your clothes off."

"Draco," My breathing had picked up as my mind went to panic mode, "Draco… no," I shook my head, "Just let me go to my common room… I want to be with my friends."

"Oh, well, I'm sorry," He apologized with a pathetic try at showing sympathy, "But, I really want to shag you, but you're being rather difficult, so looks like we'll both have to wait a bit longer to get what we want."

"Dra-"

"Shh," He told me as he leaned forward and pressed his lips softly to mine, "Shh, I wasn't finished yet. So just shut up, and let me say my piece." He ordered, "Kay?"

I nodded.

"I said I want to shag you, 'Mione, and quite honestly, I always get what I want. And what I want from you, right now, is for you to get your ass over to that couch, and strip for me. But do it slowly, I want you to build up the tension for me." He told me in the most seductive way he could, "And then, once you are bare, I want you to run your hand along the outside of my trousers and grab me, and I want you to massage me for a bit to really get me going. And then kiss my dick through my pants, even run your tongue along me if you like. Then I am going to take off my shirt and belt, and let you take care of the rest. When you take off my pants, I want you to tease me, really let my stay worth while, you know? I want you to grab my cock and rub it with your bare hands and I want you to stick it in your mouth and suck it for a few minutes." He moaned, taking my wrist in his hand and forcing my hand down to his sex, "Feel that?" He asked with a grin, "I'm getting hard already just thinking about this."

I pulled my hand away from him with as much force I could muster.

He laughed softly and then went on with his sick little fantasy, "And then I want you to shove me down onto to couch, and I want you to climb on top of my and kiss me. Then, once we are both out of breath, I want you to take my dick in your hand and rub it for a few minutes. Then stick it in your pussy and fuck me."

I turned my head away from him and closed my eyes and whispered, "Please, just let me go to my common room." I begged as a small tear found its way from behind my eyelid and traveled slowly down my cheek.

"No, you are going to do as I tell you." He told me as he grabbed onto the side of my hair and pulled it tightly, causing me to call out in pain, "I said I always get what I want, so shut up and give me what I've asked for."

"No." I told him softly.

"What did you just say to me?" He sounded shocked as his eyes winded towards me.

I inhaled a deep breath of fear and confidence and repeated myself, "I said no." I told him again.

"You stupid slut!" He barked as he planted his fist into my jaw, which sent me reeling down the length of the wall with a large _thud! _as I hit the ground, "Stupid, stupid, little tease!" He called out as he ripped me from the ground by my hair and dragged me over to the couch, "Now do as I say!" He demanded as he tossed me onto the dust eaten couch, "I'm not asking again! Strip you cow!"

"No!" I screamed as I looked up at him with tear streaked cheeks, "Let me go!" I cried as he climbed on top of me and began tearing at my clothing, "Get off! Please! Stop!" I sobbed as I fought and thrashed against him for freedom.

"Stop moving!" He shouted before slapping his palm across my cheeks, "Stay still!" He told me.

"No!" I told him weakly, "Get off of me! Stop! Please! Please don't do this!" I begged as he ripped through my shirt and began fondling my breasts, "Stop!" I cried.

"SHUT UP!" He bellowed before decking my left cheekbone with his clenched fist.

I cried out in pain as my head whipped to the side, "Please stop!" I cried with my eyes tightly shut, "Don't do this Draco! Please stop!"

Draco let out a sudden and surprised gasp as his body was ripped from mine, "What the hell!" He called out as I pulled myself as far back into the corner as I could.

"Ugh!" He cried out as the mysterious figure bashed his fist against Draco's gut, "Stop!" Draco called out as he began squirming backwards, but all too soon his request was rejected a another blow found it's was to Draco's shoulder. "OW!" He called out as he clasped his shoulder with his hand, "Stop!" He cried, "Please stop!"

"Isn't that vhat Hermione asked?" The familiar Bulgarian asked with clear rage, "But did you stop?" He asked, "Vell, did you!" He shouted.

"Please!" Draco pleaded, "We were just having fun!"

"Holding down Hermione as she is begging for you to stop, that is fun!" Viktor bellowed in rage before slamming his fist into Draco's gut.

"Please stop!" Draco cried.

"You disgusting bastard! You didn't stop vhen Hermione asked you, did you! So vhy should I listen to you!" I watched from my nest on the couch with my knees pulled up tight against my chest with tears streaming down my cheeks.

"STOP!" Draco bellowed with his face protected my his hands, "PLEASE!"

"Go," Viktor told him with malice, "Go now before I change my mind." He demanded as he backed away from Draco, "GO!"

Draco nodded his head wildly before scampering up to his feet and running as fast as he could away from the broad Bulgarian, who stood stiffly as he watched him struggle to open the door, which slammed shut softly behind him.

I sat trembling on the couch as I watched Viktor slowly turn to face me, it was dark but I could still see the expressions on his face clearly: pain, frustration, anger, guilt, rage, sadness…

He slowly walked over to me as his fierce disposition turned to protectiveness and concern.

"Thank you." I mumbled softly through strained sobs, "For saving me again." I stammered.

He Didn't say anything, instead he just dropped to his knees in front of me and gently placed his hand onto my face, "You're hurt." He noticed as he examined the fresh bruising across my cheeks.

"It doesn't hurt so bad," I told him, "I can really feel it any- anymore."

"You need to go to the nurse," He told me softly, "I'll take you, can you valk?"

I shook my head slowly, "No…" I whispered as I looked down at my hands which were shaking uncontrollably.

"Then I vill carry you," He told me gently as he reached out and slid one of his arms around my back as the other slid beneath the pit of my knees.

I looked up at him with disbelieving thankfulness and wrapped an arm around his neck and cupped my hands together. He looked at me for a few brief moments before asking in a whisper, "Am I hurting you?"

I shook my head slowly and told him, "No," In a near mute whisper.

As he slowly stretched himself back up to his feet I tightened my arm around him and cradled my head against the crook of his neck, "It's alright," He told me reassuringly, "I have you… you are safe." I immediately and trustingly loosened my hold around him as he began walking gracefully towards the door.

* * *

"Alright dear," Madam Pomfrey said with a small smile, "You're alright then? Comfortable?" She asked as she softly patted her hand against my knee.

I nodded as I looked up at her from with weak eyes and whispered, "Yes, thank you."

She nodded sympathetically before walking off and vanishing behind a softly illuminated doorway, leading to the nurses quarters.

"If you are alright, I vill be on my vay to bed." Viktor told me once Madam Pomfrey had gone. He then stood and began to slowly walk away from my bed, and that's when I softly called to him.

"Viktor?" I asked nervously, "Can you… stay here… with me, tonight, please?"

He stopped in his tracks and turned back to face me. And without saying anything he seated himself back in the chair, and folded his arms comfortably in his lap. He watched me contently and whispered, "Sleep Hermione, I vill not leave your side."

And I closed my eyes, and I slept.

TBC


	5. Promised

**Whatever Will Be, Will Be**

Chapter Five: Promised

**Hermione's POV**

When I woke up the next morning, I felt safe. Seeing Viktor sitting beside my bed made me feel warm and comfortable, he made me feel things I didn't even know I could still feel. I felt as if I could just lay there for days, not giving a care in the world.

But then I remembered why I was there, and why he was there.

Memories from the night before came rushing back to me, and I found myself trembling with fear as I pulled myself into the fetal position. My eyes became wet and my pillow damp as I cried fear filled tears.

"Shh," Viktor told me as he rushed over to me, placing his hand gently on my trembling shoulder, "You're alright."

"Where is he?" I asked softly while hugging my arms against my chest, "Where's _Draco_?" My voice cracked on his name.

"He isn't here," He whispered, "You're safe now, he can't get to you. He tried to earlier, but he saw me and ran." He chuckled softly to himself.

"And that's funny?" I asked him cryptically.

"Vell, no," He told me, "It's just, he beats up a girl so easily, and runs vith one look from me. He only pretends to be tough, beating on you to make himself feel like a man… it's pathetic."

"Well I'm glad my pain brings pleasure to you," I said sarcastically.

"No, that's not vhat I meant, I-"

"No, I'm sorry. I'm being completely rude to you, you save be last night… all I should be doing is thanking you. Not judging you and going off of accusations."

"You've nothing to be sorry for, Hermione." He told me as he slid his hand from my shoulder, "But I do vant to know how long this has been going on."

"Not here," I told him in a hush whisper as I looked around and spotted Madam Pomfrey attending to a pile of papers.

_TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER, IN THE GARDENS_

"Last night was the first night anything like that ever happened," I told him as we sat alongside each other in the tall overgrown grass, "He had never forced himself onto me before, he hardly even brought the subject up. But then, last night… I was so scared. I didn't know what he might do if I kept fighting him and telling him no. I mean, he has beat me before, but last night was different. Even his expression was different. His eyes, they looked wild, feral. I had never felt that scared in my entire life… and then you came in…" I trailed off.

"He used to be so kind. Caring, generous, loving, tender, understanding. But then, about seven months ago, he changed. He became this mean, hateful person that I had never seen before… he was worse than ever. He was crueler than I had ever seen him before.

"He would blame me for everything, even when I was not around to witness whatever it was he was blaming me for. The first time he slapped me I thought was just an accident, I thought I just got in his way… stepped too close to him. But then, he did it again… and again… and again. And before too long, his open palm had turned into a closed fist, and he would leave bruises across my cheeks. He started kicking me, pinching me, biting me, even.

"He threw things at me, too. He broke his wand when he hit me on the head with it one time, just before the World Cup, actually. And when he would get really angry, he would pick me up and call me something vile, and toss me into the air or against a wall. I've broken eight bones in the last seven months, and I keep telling myself that each one will be the last. But it never is…" I trailed off again.

"Hermione," He said softly as he reached out to take my hand, "Vhy did you stay vith him for so long? If he vas hurting you so badly?"

"Because I kept telling myself he would change. I kept thinking he'll go back to how he used to be," I smiled, "He used to be so perfect, and he isn't always so bad. There are times when he'll just hold me and love me and having those moments is worth everything."

"How can you say those moment's outveight the bad?" He wondered, "Vouldn't you rather just have those moments? And not have to vorry about the bad?"

"Of course!" I smiled, "But, if there was no bad there would be no good, and I wouldn't appreciate the tender moments we do have."

"So, you vould rather go through pain, everyday, and have one loving moment, than have only loving moments and no pain?"

"I…" I didn't know what to say to that, and so I just sat still and looked down at the grass beneath us.

Viktor let out a stiff sigh as he pulled himself closer to me. And as if on cue, I threw my face into my hands and wept openly as my shoulders bounced up and down with violent trembles. Viktor wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his lap and held me securely against his chest. His hands rubbed my back softly as I nudged my head into the crook of his neck.

"Shh, shh," He soothed me softly as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

_And I cried… and I cried… and I cried._

* * *

_I had requested to meet Draco in the library, in the back where students never went. I was going to tell him it was over, and that he had hurt me for too long…_

_If only the world worked as simply as that…_

"Hermione," Draco whispered softly as he dropped to his knees in front of me, "I am _so_ sorry, I am so so sorry. Please Hermione, I don't know what came over me." He told me softly as he cupped his hands around mine, "I will never do anything to hurt you like that again, I promise. Hermione, please, please forgive me."

"Draco… you scared me so much," I told him weakly, "We ca-"

"I know, I know, and I am _so _sorry," He apologized, cutting me off, "Please Hermione, I would do anything to take back what I tried to do to you. You have to believe me, I love you so much, and I am never going to hurt you like that again." He told me as he slid his hand to the side of my neck, "Please, Hermione, believe me."

"I do believe you Draco," I told him as I held tightly back on the tears that fought their way to the surface, "But that doesn't mean I can forgive you."

"Please, Angel, _I love you_. And I never want to see you get hurt again. I hate myself, I hate myself for how badly I hurt you and scared you last night. And I am asking you, begging you, to please give me a chance to prove to you that I will never hurt you again."

"What would you have done…" I began as I looked down into my lap, "… if Viktor hadn't come along?"

He closed his eyes and let out an unsteady breath, "Something I would surely be regretting a lot more than what I am asking you to forgive me for right now," He told me, "But he did come along, Hermione, and I didn't do it. So please… please forgive me."

I pulled my hands away from his and crossed them into my lap, "I can't, Draco, I just can't." I whispered with my eyes closed softly.

"Then give me time," He suggested, "Give me time to prove to you that I can be better then I have been to you, take me back, 'Mione. I can't live without you."

I slowly opened my eyes and looked down at him. His eyes were big and pleading with his hands cupped out in front of him like he was praying. _It is so hard to hate someone who I love so much…_

"Neither can I," I whispered to him softly as a small tear slithered down my cheek, "I can't live without you, either, Draco," I admitted sheepishly.

I pulled my arms away from my lap and reached out to him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders as I allowed him to pull me into his lap and cradle me against his chest, "I love you so much Hermione," He told me softly, holding me and rocking me, as I cried against his shoulder, "I am so sorry, I will never hurt you again Angel."

"Please don't Draco," I cried, "Please don't, I can't take it anymore…" I told him as I laced my fingers into his hair.

"I know, I know love, I won't. I promise, I am so sorry for everything I have ever done to you. You don't deserve any of it, ever." He told me softly as he tightened his hold on me.

"I love you Draco," I said softly as I pulled my head away from his shoulder, "And I want to be able to trust you again, with everything."

"You'll be able to, Hermione, you'll be able to trust me again, like you used to," He nodded as he leaned in to kiss me softly, "I promise."

Draco leaned his head into mine and kissed me again, with more passion and gentleness than he had in a long time. It made me tremble with both happiness and fear. Happiness because I had _my _Draco back, but fear because I didn't know how long he would last…

* * *

"How?" Viktor asked me with disbelief, "How could you forgive him? How could you take him back after vhat he did to you… after vhat I had to stop him from doing?… After everything you told me, after I held you for I don't know how long as you cried because of him… you still forgive him?"

"He promised me… he promised me he'd be better now." I told him.

"Hermione, I… how can you believe him?" He asked me with his eyes closed as his thumb and forefinger pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Because he promised me," I told him, "He told me that he couldn't live without me, and he told me he loved me, and would do anything to take back what he tried to do last night."

"How can he possibly love you so much if he hurts you the vay he does?" Viktor asked as he opened his eyes and took a step closer to me, "Love should be about tenderness and protection and happiness…" He paused and dropped his head, "He tried to rape you, Hermione. And he vould have had I not gone in vhen I did, vould you still be forgiving him then? Vould you still be taking him back then?"

"No," I answered him truthfully, "I wouldn't. But you did come, and he didn't rape me… I don't understand why it matters to you so much anyways," I said softly, "You hardly even know me, yet all you seem to be doing is saving me, again and again. Even when you are nowhere around, you are always there in time to get to me before something really bad happens."

He nodded and looked down at the space between our feet.

"Why?" I asked him, "Why do you always protect me… I'm just a person… I don't deserve your heroism."

"No, vhat you don't deserve is to be abused and treated the vay he treats you." He told me before letting out a sigh, "I am…" He said slowly, "… drawn to you. From the moment I saw you during the Vorld Cup, I haven't been able to get you out of my mind. I have this need to… to protect you, as you said, to make sure that you are alright. And vhen I saw you in the Great Hall, talking to your redhead friend, I saw that you had been crying, and I saw bruising on your face." His eyes trailed along my cheeks, "I knew that it vas some_one_ who had been causing you pain. And so it vas then, right at that moment, that I promised myself to never let you out of my sight… to never let you get hurt again.

"Then, vhen I saw you in the library… vhen your _boyfriend_ started speaking. I knew it vas him, so vhen the two of you left, I followed you. I vould have come to you sooner, but I vas bombarded by a group of drooling girls so I got held up. I didn't vant to lead them in your direction, so I had to appease them vith my autograph, and then by the time I got to you… he vas already on top of you.

"And vhen I saw him there, vhen I saw vhat he vas trying to do… something inside of me snapped. I vanted to_, kill him_, for vhat he vas doing to you. You looked so scared and helpless and veak… all I vanted to do vas hold onto you and tell you that everything vas going to be alright, and that I vould protect you. That I vouldn't let him hurt you anymore.

"But, I guess that vould be an empty promise since you have gone back to him. And no matter how much you believe him, or how much you think he has changed. I am still going to protect you from him… you're safety is my obligation. And I von't let him hurt you.

"So he can promise you all the things he vants. But the only promise you can believe, the only promise you know vill never be broken is this: I vill keep you safe, no matter vhat it takes. I vill never let him hurt you again. So go on, go to him. Just know that I vill alvays be there to protect you. And if you ever need me, for anything… I vill never turn you down.

"Alvays know that you can trust me, a stranger, a person who vill protect you to the end of the vorld… _for no apparent reason at all_, vhenever your boyfriend hurts you, vhenever he blames you for his mistakes. I vill alvays be here for you, and I promise you that."

TBC


	6. Triwizard Champions

**Whatever Will Be, Will Be**

Chapter Six: Triwizard Champions

**Hermione's POV**

"Draco, what are you doing over here?" I asked my boyfriend as he approached me in the dim light, "I thought you'd want to sit by your friends for this?"

"Well, I can go join them if you'd prefer it?" He asked as he slowly backed away.

"No!" I said quickly, "I want you here, I'm just… surprised." I told him with a smile as I reached out to take his hand.

"What?" He asked as we walked hand-in-hand to the top row of seats, "You're surprised that your boyfriend wants to spend time with you?"

I smiled at him in response as he sat himself down with his legs left open for me to take a seat between them. As I sat down I leaned my back against his chest and cupped my hands around his as his held me securely in his arms.

"Hey guys," He said unexpectedly as he nodded towards Ron and Harry.

"Um, hi," They said in unison with equal amounts of confusion and discomfort on their faces.

"Sit down please," Dumbledore began as the room fell silent, "And now the moment you've all been waiting for, the champions selection!" He announced as he approached the large wooden goblet. It's flames which had blazed blue for the past few days suddenly flickered wildly and turned a cherry shade of red. A popping sound filled the room as a small scrap of parchment flew into the air from the flames, and weaved down into Dumbledore's hand.

"The Durmstrang champion is… Nikolai Levski!" A brief applause surrounded the tall corner of the front of the room as a tough-face stood from the Bulgarian crowd and made his way to Dumbledore, where he then was directed to a door that was standing conspicuously near the professors table.

"_I thought Durmstrang's would be Viktor Krum for sure," _An unfamiliar voice hissed.

"_Yeah, me too, he's so tough!" _Another voice added.

"_I heard he didn't enter," _A third voice responded.

"_What? Why?" _The two questioned in sync.

"_Well, why would he need eternal glory if he's already the worlds best and youngest seeker?" _

The voices died down as the flame again turned from it's light blue glow to a fierce red, and out fluttered a small circular sheet of parchment with a gold frame, "The champion from Beauxbaton's… Fleur Delacour!" Feminine French voices congratulated the petite blond a she stood with a wide smile across her lips. She made her way to Dumbledore and shook his hand before heading off in the direction the Bulgarian had earlier taken.

"The Hogwarts champion… Cedric Diggory!" Loud applause broke out throughout the room as I watched Cedric rise from his seat and take his place at the head of the room to be congratulated by Dumbledore.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore said enthusiastically as the room fell again silent, "We now have our three champions! But in the end, only one will go down in history. Only one will hoist this chalice of champions, this vessel of victory, the tri-wizard cup!"

* * *

"So, that was pretty surprising about Cedric," Ron commented as we climbed through the fat lady portrait, "Was sure he wasn't going to enter."

"Yeah, I know," Harry added, "Last I heard he wasn't going to."

"Why?" I asked as we placed ourselves around the sizzling fire, "I mean, I would think he'd want to. And it's good that he's name got chosen, we need this school to uphold a good name."

"Yeah, would hate to have someone like say, oh, I don't know, Draco pulled." Ron mumbled.

"Hey!" I snapped at him, "Anyways, you still haven't told me why you thought Cedric wasn't going to enter."

"Oh that, you really don't know?" Harry smiled with disbelief.

"Well, I know people die in this competition?" I guessed.

"Yes, that and the fact that he has a crush on you." He laughed.

"What? What would give you that idea?" I huffed, "And besides, even if so, why would that stop him from entering the competition?"

"Well, first, I think that because he told me he likes you, and… he seems to…" Harry began, "Well, you see…"

"What?" I pried.

"Cedric thinks there is something going on with you and Draco," Ron told me, "And when he says _going on _he means, well, he thinks Draco abuses you. And he thought that by entering the competition it would make it difficult for him to protect you."

"But we told him we'd look out for you," Harry added, "So I guess that made up his mind to enter after all."

"And, it got us to thinking…" Ron said slowly, "It does kind of make sense… when we put the pieces together…"

"What?" I asked nervously as I folded my arms over my chest.

"Has Draco been hurting you, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Look, guys," I began, "I appreciate that you are concerned for me, but everything is fine. Draco doesn't hurt me."

"Yeah, that's great to hear Hermione, but, Cedric seemed pretty bloody sure when he talked to us." Harry whispered, "And, we couldn't help but believe him. He told us that he walked in on Draco screaming at you, and that he saw him hit you, he said you looked terrified but didn't say anything…" He trailed off.

"Cedric was just…" I bit my lip, "He was exaggerating. Draco and I were just having an argument, and Cedric probably thought he saw some things that didn't actually happen."

"Then why were you crying when you got into the Great Hall?" Ron pressed.

"We were having an argument!" I shouted, "I'm a girl! I'm emotional! I'm sorry that worries you so bloody much, but I do have emotions that I can't always control!"

"Hermione…" Harry tried as I stood up, "… just liste-"

"No!" I told them, "I can't believe you would even… okay, yeah, I lied. Draco did hit me when Cedric saw us, and he was shouting at me, but that doesn't make it any of your business, and it shouldn't be Cedric's either. But that was before, Draco is better now."

"You should have told us," Ron said.

"You can't honestly believe he's gonna change," Harry said, "I mean it's _Malfoy_ we are talking about here."

"I know, right? I shouldn't have gotten with him in the first place, right?" I asked them, "Well, I did, and yes Harry, I do think he will change. You two are just so bloody close-minded because all you see when you look at him is Malfoy, you can't see who he really is."

"Are you even listening to yourself right now Hermione?" Ron asked as he stood up, "This is bloody Malfoy! And yeah, that is all we see when we look at him because that is who he is! Malfoy! He is never going to bloody change!" He shouted, "Look, Hermione," He said softly as he stepped towards me, "You are a smart person, the smartest damn person I know. So, why would you even ever consider the fact that he could ever change?"

"Because," I told him softly as tears threatened their way to the surface, "What he tried to do crossed a line even knows was too far, and he apologized and promised to change."

"What, Hermione?" Ron asked softly, "What did he try to do?"

"Did he try… did he try to _rape _you, Hermione?" Harry asked from his perch on the couch.

I looked between the two of them and nodded slowly, "But he didn't get to," I told them hoarsely, "Viktor… Krum, came in and ripped him off of me. He saved me, he protected me. That's all he seems to be doing these days."

"Well now we know why he didn't enter the compet-, right, wrong time for that." Harry quickly corrected himself as Ron looked down at him with wide eyes and his eyebrows drawn in together.

"Hermione, please, why didn't you tell us?" Ron asked softly as he looked down at me with gentle eyes.

"I didn't think you needed to know…" I told him with a quick laugh to cover up a sob, "There's already enough drama between the three of us, I didn't want to add in anymore."

"Bloody hell Hermione, this is important!" He hissed in a whisper, "You're our friend, you can't keep things like this to yourself… is this why you didn't come in last night?"

"I was in the hospital wing," I nodded as I bit down on the side of my thumb, "Viktor took me there, I didn't have a say in the matter… he carried me."

"Hermione," Ron sighed, "Leave him. Because if Krum hadn't helped you then I would have bloody killed Malfoy, in fact the only thing from stopping me from doing it right now is you."

"Please, Ron, don't say that," I begged as I placed my face into my hands and began crying softly, "Just… don't!" I sobbed as I dropped to my knees. I felt Ron wrap his arms around me and pull me into his lap, "Don't!" I cried as I tried to push him away from me, "Let go Ron!" I fought him.

"You're my best friend, I'm not letting you go 'Mione," He whispered to me as I bashed my fists against his chest, "Hit me all you want, I'm not letting go."

"Ron!" I cried as I gave up my assaults, "I'm sorry!" I told him as I allowed his arms to pull me tighter against him, "I'm so sorry!" I told him weakly.

"Shh, shh," He cooed softly, "I'm here 'Mione, I'm always here…" He told me as he rocked me softly in his arms, "It's alright," He whispered.

My tears multiplied as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, I sobbed violently against his chest as he stroked my back softly.

"Shh, shh, I have you… I have you…"

TBC


	7. Unforgivable

**AN:** Situations may be a bit out of order, but that is the beauty of Fanfiction!  
**PS/AN: **Some lines you will recognize from the fourth book, I take no claim to them as my own.

* * *

**Whatever Will Be, Will Be**

Chapter Seven: Unforgivable

**Hermione's POV**

"Hermione," Draco began slowly as he looked down at our entwined hands. "Do you remember that night, when Viktor Krum and I got into that little confrontation?"

I took a moment before responding, shuddering, and thinking it was anything but _little. _"Yeah, why?"

"Well, it just crossed my mind all of the sudden. You told me that the two of you weren't talking, before I came to the library, and yet he knew exactly where we were, after I mean. How is that do you think?"

"I donno." I told him honestly. "I mean, maybe he heard… Struggling, from outside the door?"

"Hm, maybe." He responded. "But, even if so, he would have had to following us, wouldn't he? There are a million different halls in this place, and yet he chose the same path as us. It's just sort of… Odd."

"Yeah." I smiled while running the blades of my fingers through the crisp green grass beneath us. "It is."

"Yeah…" He trailed off. "Hermione, now, I won't be angry… But, were you lying to me? Were you two talking before I got there?" He wondered before looking up into my eyes.

"No." I shook my head. "No, we weren't. I mean, we exchanged a few words concerning dust and books, but besides that we didn't talk at all. It was just silence, I promise you. But…" I began riskily. "…Would it even matter if we were?"

"No, no I guess not." He agreed with a small smile before pulling his eyes from mine and looking out onto the early morning sky.

* * *

"So – straight into it." Moody went on. "Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you counter-curses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in sixth year. You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it 'til then. But Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion on your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen? A wizard who's about to pull an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to do it all nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful.

"Now, will one of you kindly step up and name one of the unforgivable curses?" He went on. "Today would be nice!" He boomed. "Ah! Weasley, is it?" He asked as Ron shakily raised his hand. "That's it, come on up."

"I think I know one, it's called the Imperius curse, I think?" Ron guessed slowly.

"Ah, yeah, you'd know all about that one wouldn't you? Your dad gave the Ministry quite a hard time with that one." He said softly while leaning in towards my redhead friend. "Now class!" He added in a bark, making Ron jump nearly a foot and then shutter back down into his seat beside Harry. "In these glass jars you'll find one spider each, no need to tell you what their purpose is it would appear to be self explanatory but I'll tell you anyways in case we have any slow ones with us here: Three spiders, three curses. Now enough of that – _Imperio!_" He stated loudly and proudly while pointing his wand towards the first jar.

The spider floated mystically into the air and followed Moody's wand precisely, doing flips and swirls through the air and hovering over various students heads.

Laughter broke out through the classroom as Mad-Eye began trailing the innocent spider along people's chests and faces; I was among the few who weren't laughing. Draco, on the other hand, was among the first to start.

"What shall I have her do next?" Moody began as the laughter slowly died down. "Drown herself?" He asked while hovering the spider over a deep bucket of water. "Throw herself out the window?

"No. You need to see and learn the seriousness of these curses… It's only fun and games until someone looses an eye. Believe me, I'd know." He then made his way back to his desk and floated the spider back into her jar roughly.

"Another curse!" He boomed loudly.

Neville slowly stood from his seat and raised his hand shyly. "The… Cruciatus curse?"

"Right you are there, Neville: The torture curse." Moody nodded before levitating the spider into his hand, and then onto the desk before Neville. "_Crucio!_"

The spiders' back instantly shot downward and its legs upward. A loud, shrill screech filled the classroom as the spider twitched and strained itself endlessly; suffering.

"Stop it!" I cried after seeing Neville's hurt and pained expression for too long. "Can't you see it's bothering him, stop it!" I demanded before slamming my hands onto the surface of my desk with rage and fury.

"Perhaps, Miss Granger, you can tell us the last of the unforgivable curses?" He asked me after finding his way to my seat. I shook my head and fought back tears of anger for Moody and sadness for Neville.

"Very well. Then maybe you should keep your outbursts to yourself then next time." He suggested rudely while making his way back up to the front of the classroom. Draco grabbed my hand softly from under the desk and rubbed the top of it soothingly, and I felt myself relax. A little.

"The last of the unforgivable curses… Can anyone name it?" He asked. "No? I thought not. Though I know there isn't a one of you in this classroom who doesn't know what it's called or what it does.

"The killing curse, and there is but one person who has ever survived through it. And he's right here, in this classroom."

I watched as Harry placed his hand delicately along his scar; feeling self conscious. Moody then stepped before him and levitated the spider to Harry and Ron's desk, and after a few seconds: _Avada Kedavra! _

* * *

"I can't believe he would perform those in a classroom! And to call on the students that the curses would affect the most!" I said angrily while leading Draco, Ron and Harry down the winding staircase. "I mean did you see Neville's face?"

Harry placed his hand along my sleeves and pulled me back gently, only in time to see Neville standing before me silently.

"Neville?" I asked him while placing my hand softly on his shoulder. "Neville, are you alright?" As I asked him this I thought what a ridiculous question it is, it is only ever asked when the one doing the asking knows perfectly well the answer to. People only ever ask 'are you alright' when they know the person is anything but alright.

"Come on son." Moody said from behind us, making the lot of us jump in fright and turn in his direction. "Professor Sprout tells me you're interested in Herbology… Come with me, there's something I want to show you."

We watched as Neville nodded and followed Mad-Eye back up to his classroom in silence.

* * *

"Hermione, do you want to help me with something?" Draco asked curiously as the two of us sat in the darkness of the unused classroom.

"What is it?" I wondered.

"Well, it's sort of a… An experiment, if you will." He explained. "It's something I have been wanting to do for a while, but I never knew how to come about it accurately until earlier today."

"Okay… What is it?" I asked. "I mean, what is it you've been wanting to do?"

"Just… Trust me." He said suspiciously. "Alright love?"

"Okay." I said with a curious smile. "Anything I can do to help for an experiment. What do I need to do?"

"Don't worry about that, just leave it up to me and everything will go smoothly; naturally."

"Draco, I don-"

"_Imperio_." I heard him say softly, and it stopped me from finishing whatever it was I was going to say.

I could no longer control myself, my body seemed to move on its own. I tried with all my might to do something, anything, on my own, but I couldn't. It was like I was in my body still, but it was possessed somehow. I could see everything, and hear everything and feel everything, but I could get a breath out on my own.

I could see Draco smiling with pride through the side of my vision as my body moved gracefully closer towards his. My hands which were once entwined in his now made their way up and down his chest and stomach. I tried pulling myself away from him, but it seemed the harder I tried the harder the task became, and the closer I got to him.

Draco leaned himself back comfortably as my hands forced themselves onto the outside of the front of his jeans. The inside of me was screaming for freedom, but it never came.

The sound of his zipper filled my ears as I felt myself moving closer towards his sex with my upper body.

He was now in my hands: Hard, long, warm, pulsating… _Sickening_.

I wanted to throw up; I wanted to _rip it off_… But all I kept doing was stroking my hand up and down slowly in a perfect rhythm. His moans and heavy breathing was all I heard beside my own elevated heartbeat.

It was then that the worst part came. He was in my mouth now; my tongue slithered along him and my cheeks soar from sucking him deeper and deeper into my mouth.

He moaned out loudly in a call of pure pleasure and bliss as a taste worse than anything I had ever experienced filled my mouth. It was like salt and pancake batter, only worse. His hands gripped tightly onto the back of my head and shoulder, and he shoved himself in me so deeply I was sure I would gag or vomit, I wanted to, but my body allowed neither to happen.

I slowly pulled my mouth and hand away from him and found myself away from him; on the floor before him and looking up at him with a _smile_.

I watched him zip himself back up and stand with a look of relaxation and satisfaction on his face and in his eyes.

It wasn't until he was nearing the door that he released me.

"Draco!" I called to him. "Draco!" I cried, but he kept walking away from me. "Draco!" I tried again, but he just walked out the door, and disappeared into the darkness.

"Draco…" I whispered softly with tears running down my cheeks. "Why would you do that… I trusted you…"

The taste of him was still in my mouth, and my stomach lurched, doing what it should have in the first place. I tried swallowing it down, but it wouldn't stay, it came up fast and furiously. I gripped tightly onto the side of the couch as I hurled up everything that was inside of me onto the floor.

When I was finally done I plopped back onto the floor in a fit of tears; throwing my face into my hands and pouring my heart out and all the while saying his name over and over…

* * *

I wasn't sure who found me, or how, but I now found myself cradled up against a large boulder, and the ground beneath me was rough and sharp and cold.

They told me to wait here, they told me not to move. And I listened, numbly, I listened.

His hands on my shoulders where what brought me back from wherever it was my mind had gone off to.

I ran my hand up and placed it gently onto the side of his face as he asked softly. "Vhat happened?" I didn't hear him at first, or more, I didn't comprehend his words. "Hermione, please, tell me vhat happened."

"He…" I began, this time hearing him. "He made me… Do things. He didn't force me to, he just… I couldn't control myself. _Imperio_."

Viktor wrapped his arms tightly around my shoulders and pulled me into his chest as my eyes fell shut and released more dozens of tears. "Shh, shh, don't fret, I'm here… I have you, you're safe."

I know it was odd, and I shouldn't have trusted him so, but I soon found myself relaxed and silent in his arms, no longer crying.

"Let me valk you to your common room." He offered before slightly loosening his hold around me. "I don't van't yo-"

"No." I told him softly, cutting him off. "I mean, I don't… Will you… I can't…"

"Vhat is it?" He asked softly while looking into my eyes.

"Will you just… Will you sleep with me tonight?" I asked him finally. "I don't want to go back to my common room; I don't want to be around all those people. Please, will you please take me somewhere were we can be alone and you can just hold me?"

* * *

"No one vill bother us here." He said softly after pulling up a thin quilt and cocooning us in it. "You're safe, you can sleep. I von't let anything happen to you."

I didn't really say anything back as I laid there in his arms; I just looked over into his eyes with my arms wrapped loosely around his torso.

"You have to know, you don't deserve vhat he does to you." He said softly. "You deserve someone who vill love and protect you like a boyfriend should…" He trailed off and brought his hand up to the side of my face to slide a bundle of hair that had fallen into my eyes. "You're beautiful, you're a little princess, and you should be treated like one."

Like earlier, I moved my hand back up to his face and let his warmth absorb into me.

Viktor slowly moved his hand from my head and slid it gracefully to the top of mine, where he then laced his fingers within mine. He then slowly, carefully, leaned his head in towards mine, and he softly kissed me.

My eyes were closed now as he pulled his lips from mine, but I could feel him watching me, and so I opened my eyes again to look back at him. And I slid my hand, which was still cupped safely in his, to the crook of his neck, and we leaned into each other once again, and kissed.

His lips weren't like Draco's, they were different. They were warm and full and soft. And when he kissed me it wasn't at all like when Draco kissed me. No. As Viktor kissed me, as his lips softly and tenderly pressed themselves into mine… It felt safe, and comfortable, and content. _He _made me feel safe, and comfortable, and content. When he kissed me… I felt loved.

And that, I realized, is why I called his name, and not Draco's.

TBC


	8. Over

**Whatever Will Be, Will Be**

Chapter Eight: Over

**Hermione's POV**

"You can't get away with what you did Draco," I said firmly as we stood huddled in our jackets and scarves behind the stadiums of the Quidditch pitch. "I won't allow it."

"Hermione, I told you Love." He began as he made another attempt to step my way, but again, I placed my hand firmly onto his chest and forced him backwards. "It was only an experiment… I told you that before I even did it. If I had thought… if I had thought it would hurt you in any way I would have never done it. You know that don't you? Surly you must know that."

"Do I Draco?" I asked him as I folded my arms tightly across my chest. "Because the last I checked… the last I heard… the last I _knew_ that spell, that _curse_ is illegal!"

"_Not so loud _Love." He growled.

"Not so loud?" I laughed as I released my arms from my chest. "Not so loud, not so… Draco, you're lucky I haven't told any of the teachers! Do you even realize how much power I have over you right now Draco? One word, one word and you're in Azkaban. No second thoughts no questions asked no exceptions… do you understand that?"

"Yes, I do." He nodded. "I do Hermione… but… do you think I'd have done it had I even thought for a second you'd tell anyone?" He asked.

"What are you… what are you saying Draco?"

"Nothing." He assured me. "Nothing Love. Let's just go back to the stands and watch the rest of the first task."

"No Draco." I told him as I pulled my hand from his. "What did you mean by _if you thought for a second I'd tell anyone_?"

"Nothing, like I said… just that. That I knew you cared about me, and you'd love and miss me if I were sent to Azkaban, so I knew I could trust you. I knew it would tear you apart if I were sent to that place… I trust you with the ability to keep me out of situations like that. That's all."

"So, what? You're saying you would take advantage of that? That you would… just _use_ me for my caring for your safety and security?"

"Like I said. I knew you wouldn't tell anyone, an-" I cut him off as he turned to walk back to the stands.

"I said I didn't tell any teacher's Draco." I told him solemnly. "Not that I didn't tell anybody."

"What?" He asked, stopping and turning in his tracks. "What did you just say?"

"You heard what I said Draco." I told him. "I'm not repeating myself."

"What did you…? WHO DID YOU TELL!" He boomed as he stepped inches from my face. "Tell me!" He demanded; screaming and stepping back. "Hermione! Tell me! Tell me now wh-" He took a deep breath and closed his eyes; panting, he placed his hand onto his forehead and said more calmly. "Love… Hermione… Sweet… tell me who you told."

"Why Draco?" I asked him.

"BECAUSE I… Because I just need to know, and I asked you a question and I demand an answer, that's why." He spat. "Now give me their name!"

"Who I told…" I repeated, thinking of Viktor. "Does it really matter? I told them, and they haven't told anyone, so does it really matter?"

"Yes!" He demanded softly as he rushed back towards me and cupped his hands roughly, yet gently, onto my shoulders and looked deeply, pleading, into my eyes. "Yes it matters! They haven't told anyone yet, but that doesn't mean they won't Hermione! Do you not see how serious this is? Do you not see what could happen to me?"

"I know." I nodded.

"Then why would you risk it?" He asked me sincerely.

"Because you did." I answered him. "You told me you were just going to do an experiment Draco; you told me I could trust you. And then I find out… I find out by you _cursing_ me that your little experiment was just my being taken advantage of. You're lucky I didn't leave you, you're lucky I forgave you the way I did. But most of all, you're lucky I didn't go to Dumbledore. And even more so than that… that I didn't go to the ministry with it.

"Who I told Draco, they can be trusted. And if you trust me so much, then you must trust me when I tell you that.

"The reason I got involved with you in the first place was because I saw something in you that… I _thought_ I saw something in you that was good. That was worth it.

"Honestly Draco, I thought you would change, on your own. And you were _so_ good to me at first. You'd hold my hand and kiss me and tell me you loved me and make me smile when I was sad. You'd listen to me when I was irritated or annoyed, you'd let simple things go, simple accidents or mistakes I made go. You'd forgive me.

"But after a while you changed. You became this person that…" I paused to think and find my words. "You went back to who you used to be, only, worse. You'd hit me, you'd slap me and throw me across rooms. You'd back hand me and pinch me, kick me, you hit me with things and called me worthless. I would have to come up with a thousand different lies to tell my friends, and it killed me to lie to them!

"And the bad part about that Draco, the very worst part, was that they would believe me. When everything inside of me would be screaming at me to tell them the truth, to tell them everything… it would kill me even more to have to break their hearts by telling them I lied to them… and so I kept quiet.

"I had come used to it, after a while. I had even forgotten what it was like to not be abused or hit or taken advantage of. I had finally accepted that it would never change, and I was sort of okay again. I loved you, and I thought, maybe, if I just change, try and not get in your way so much, then maybe you would change to. Maybe you'd… maybe you'd treat me like you cared. Maybe you'd treat me like you loved me. Maybe you'd treat me like you should… like a boyfriend should treat his girlfriend.

"But then, then someone did notice. And it was a real reality check for me then. I had been telling myself up to that point that I could hide it for as long as I needed, forever even, if it came down to it.

"And it wasn't even words, Draco, _it was his eyes_. I saw in them everything that he was thinking, everything I would do anything to hide from him. From everybody. But he noticed, and I realized then that the only reason my friends hadn't noticed was because they loved me, and saw only what they wanted to see.

"Sure, they would notice I would be crying more often, or sadder. But they all assumed we were just fighting more, and because of that, they told me I should leave you.

"If only they knew the real truth." I breathed.

"Draco… we can't be together anymore, I can't be with you." I told him finally. "Not after what you did, not after everything you have done and what you are capable of doing… I just can't do it anymore.

"And I'm just a kid still. And for that, I am actually quite thankful. It saved me from anything more serious in the future. Like if I were to marry you, and have children with you… I'd be stuck with you and your abuse forever. And I would have to live in fear that one day you would hurt our children as well. And I would have to lie to them if they saw you hit me, and explain it later when they were older and mature enough to know exactly what was going on. I'd have to explain to them why I never left you; why I stayed with you for as long as I did.

"So, I guess I could say thank you. Thank you for doing this now, and not later. And, also, if I ever hear of you hurting anyone else, or doing to them what you did to me, you'll go to Azkaban. And that's not a threat Draco, it's a promise."

_Nothing._

The silence was deafening.

TBC


	9. Now We Are Over

**Whatever Will Be, Will Be**

Chapter Nine: Now We Are Over

**Hermione's POV**

_Still nothing._

What was he thinking? What was he feeling? Did anything I say affect him at all? Did he ever even care what I thought? Did he care about what he had done to me; did it do anything to him? He knew he hurt me, but did that matter to him? Did that ever matter? He said it did, but did it really? Did he ever even think about me or what I might feel if he were to do something careless or selfish to me? What was I to him, a rag doll that he could just toss and order around? Did I even count as a person, a _human being_, to him?

"Draco," I began after several more minutes of silence. "Say something."

And without speaking, he stepped towards me and placed his hand lightly on my shoulder and smiled at me. I wanted to say something, anything, but I didn't know what… his silence was frightening.

He looked at me for a few more wordless moments, and then placed his opposite hand on my other shoulder. The toes of his shoes were now butted against mine, and he slid his right arm, his strong arm, down to my mid back. And without having time to register anything, his lips were against mine.

"Draco," I said as I pulled my face away from him. "What are you doing?

"Draco!" I demanded as he forced his lips to mine once more after grabbing the back of my head and holding it in place. "Stop it! Draco, stop, stop this!"

I tried pushing him away from me, but he was too strong.

"Draco!" His lips were all over me; his hands, all over me. His fingers were in tangles in my hair and his chest was pushed up firmly against mine, I knew what he wanted… I could feel it against my leg.

"Draco, Draco stop!" I shouted as I tried running backwards, but tripped carelessly over a fallen tree branch and bashed the back of my head firmly against a rock. My eyes opened and closed weakly in a daze as the world swirled and fuzzed around me.

We were on the ground now -due to my untimely decision to be klutzy- and Draco was on top of me.

"Dra…co…" I mumbled softly as I pressed my hands weakly against his chest and began pushing upward. "Stop… st…op." I begged him as I lifted my knees and began trying with all my might to scoot myself backwards and away from him. But in my attempts all I managed to do was slide my feet in shallow vertical lines, and move the earth beneath me. "Please… please Draco…" I whispered weakly as the pain in my head grew stronger and stronger, and warmer and warmer.

_Everything was going so fast…_

All I could hear was his heavy breathing, and all I could feel were his hands, lips, and body. The ground beneath me was so cold I had gone numb from it, the half Draco was on, the top half, was the only place I could feel anything. I couldn't move.

I watched and felt as Draco pulled his body away from mine. He was on his knees next to my legs leaning over me. _He wouldn't stop kissing me! _His hands were slowly trailing down my chest and stomach as he unzipped my jacket, and then back up again as he undid each and every one of my several buttons to my sweater.

All that was left now on my top half was my shirt and bra, and a scarf, if that even counted. Without ripping my shirt -as I was sure he was going to do- he simply lifted it up my stomach until he had a clear view of my powder pink bra.

My head had stopped spinning and everything was clear again, but the pain was still there.

"Please." I tried once more, but he still wouldn't speak.

His hands were at my waist now, and I could feel him tugging and pulling on my belt.

I moved my hands and found his, and I tried pulling them away, but all he did was smirk and pull them away from mine. I then heard the sound of my zipper, and felt as the jean material slid slowly down my legs.

He was on top of me again, though this time his hips were between my legs. The struggle I had put up to keep my legs closed had failed, and he had won.

I planted my hands onto his chest again and pushed and pushed, and he smiled and smiled. I watched as he quickly unzipped his own jacket and fanned it open, and then slid his shirt up his chest.

Despite the fact that his stomach against mine was sickening, the warmth was desired after my skin had been exposed to the chilly autumn air for so long; my muscles gone sore from shivering.

His lips were back on my neck now, and his hands on my sides and shoulders.

He stopped only for a moment, and in that moment I heard the sound of his belt and zipper, and moment later he was back.

A moment later… _he was inside of me. _

He let out a long and thick breath as he jerked his hips slowly in and out of me.

"God," He whispered softly. "Fuck." He added after a moment.

The only things I had heard him say for what seemed like hours.

He moaned and moaned as he continued his slow movements.

Tears slid down my cheeks as I wrapped my hands around his back, not because I wanted to hold him, but because he was the only thing there was to hold onto to distract myself from the pain in both my sex and my head.

His skin had grown hot and began to perspire as he leaned his head down and rested his forehead onto mine. He then bent his lips down and kissed me. It was as if he were pretending he was making love to me, instead of raping me.

He continued breathing thickly; rhythmically, as me slid in and out of me. And he kissed me every ten seconds.

_Counting, it was another way to distract me._

His breaths became faster and louder, and his movements that much quicker.

He came into me with a strong moan as he pushed himself tightly against me and gripped my shoulders roughly; bruising them.

I laid there crying as he pulled himself out of me. And I continued crying as he slid my panties and jeans and belt back onto me. I had given up trying to fight him away, and so I just lay there as he pulled my shirt down my stomach, and as he buttoned and zipped up my outerwear.

"Now," He said softly after kissing my forehead. "Now Hermione… Now we are over."

And he walked away.

TBC


	10. Too Late

**Whatever Will Be, Will Be**

Chapter Ten: Too Late

**Viktor's POV**

_Damn stupid competition! _I thought with tight fists. _Pointless! Eternal glory… There is no reason for me to be here! Not when she isn't! I can't find either of them; they aren't in sight anywhere. Her friends, they are here, as well as his… but they aren't! They haven't been since this stupid thing began! Karkaroff not letting us leave is just ridiculous! Moral support… THEY ARE FACING DRAGON'S! How much any-support could one give for such an insane task? _

_I promised to always protect her, and I can't do that sitting on my ass watching a stupid competition! Eternal glory… was there any other reason for it? Three extremely dangerous tasks… there are other ways to be eternally glorified! Not risk your life before your life has even begun; in school still! Who came up with this tournament anyway? Some brainless good-for nothing bum? A person who tried and tried to become noticed, and went to the extremity of risking his life just to do so? Did he then deem it a good idea to have school-aged barley-legal kids to do it? _

_Hermione could be in danger! And all I am doing is watching a ridiculous task be preformed three times over… Damn this! Whatever kind of trouble I'll get in for leaving will be nothing compared to how I will feel if anything has happened to her…_

"Viktor!" Karkaroff boomed. "I ordered you to all stay! Vhere do you think you are going? I vill not be disobeyed! Show honor to your school and classmates, stay!"

"It is just the first task, there vill be others." I told him flatly as I turned and made my way towards the steps.

"Get back here!" I heard him call. "Now!"

I ignored him and bounded quickly down the sturdy wooden steps at the back of the stand and wished as I slid my hand down the rough railing that I had done this earlier. And if not earlier, than not at all. I shouldn't have even gone to the first task without having first made sure she would be there… I knew it was a record, through no fault of her own, for her to show up late or not at all to things _he _deemed pointless.

After we had kissed we had fallen asleep together, and the next morning she promised me she would leave him. She needed to do it for herself, and she wouldn't back down this time. And I trusted her ability to do that. I trusted her. But I still had not seen her.

Or him.

I stepped through the hollow doorway and looked out onto nothing but grass, dirt, trees, twigs, bushes… nothing but nature. But I could feel her. I knew it was weird to be able to sense her, but I couldn't help it. It wasn't like I had trained myself to do it like a stalker; I had just had it since the World Cup. If it hadn't been for that… that bludger would have hit her, and I wouldn't have been able to find her later that night, either.

Just when I was about to call it quits and say I was having false feelings and look somewhere else, in the castle maybe, I saw something. And I knew without detail that it was her.

I took off quickly towards her; running as fast as I could, which was to say the least: like the wind.

When I got to her I fumed. The earth beneath her was sloppy and had lines in it going in every direction. Her jeans were dusted in thin dirt and her hair was wild and her jacket sloppily around her. She was trembling and there was blood beneath her head; bite marks and bruises on her neck, her legs uncontrollably shaking.

I dropped to my knees beside her and she looked up at me with red eyes and tear stained cheeks. I placed my hand gently onto her stomach.

"Viktor…"

TBC

* * *

**AN: **Next up, well... I don't think I have to say who's POV it will be in...


	11. You Promised Me

**Whatever Will Be, Will Be**

Chapter Eleven: You Promised Me

**Draco's POV**

"Now," I told her softly after kissing her forehead lightly. "Now Hermione… Now we are over."

As I walked away I was filled with a sense of freedom and deliverance; liberation filled me to my core. I had finally made her succumb to me, if not willingly… I had finally tasted her. I had finally had her. And as she begged me to stop, _uh_, the extra rush of arousment it gave me was unbelievably satisfying. The power she made me have… if only she knew what she were doing to me!

A smiled filled my lips.

_Who to vote for?_ I wondered casually -changing my thoughts as I began heading towards the stands to watch the first task. _Certainly not Diggory, he doesn't know how to keep his nose out of other people's business –or lives for that matter. The man can never leave well enough alone. And I'd only be caught dead cheering for someone on Krum's side. So, that leaves Fleur then. Which I certainly have no problem with. That one knows how to get a man's attention._

_Yes, Fleur it is. Everyone else will be voting for either Diggory or… or… what's his name again? Well, what's-his-name from Durmstrang. Though it is odd, Krum not entering the competition… you'd think he'd be the first one to it. Best seeker in the world, I guess one can't have everything. And seeing how he is the best seeker, and youngest, he would have no doubt been chosen. But it doesn't matter either way, I'd still never vote for him. Constantly showing up in places in needn't be; always ruining things and spoiling them. _I stifled a laugh. _Well, can't exactly say 'always' now, can I?_

I turned around only once to look back at her, and sighed. _What a waste. _I thought. _She really was beautiful…_

**Viktor's POV**

"Viktor," She whispered hoarsely. "He was-"

_She was crying._

"I know." I told her; softly placing my index finger across her trembling lips. "You don't have to… vhere is he?" I asked her while taking my hand from her lips. "Did you see vhere he vent? – Did you see vhere, Hermione, _you're bleeding_." I was trembling with suppressed anger for Hermione sake, as much as I wanted to yell and shout and rip every inch of _Malfoy_ apart, she needed me.

"I know," She breathed softly. "I fell, I- was trying to get him away from me, my foot tripped - head, my head, it hit a rock."

"Shh, shh," I told her softly. "Don't speak, you need rest and help. I need to get you to the Hospital." I rationalized. "Are you able to vrap your arms around my neck?"

She nodded as I began carefully pulling her up against my chest, and moaned out in pain as I lifted her body from the rough ground. "I know," I whispered sadly as I slowly pulled myself to a stand with her cradled securely against me. "I know, just hold on and ve'll be there soon."

As I began walking up the shallow hill towards the castle she gripped tightly onto my collar. "Where," She began slowly. "Where were you? You- You promised me..." She wasn't able to finish as she pulled her legs up closer towards herself and buried her head into my shoulder and began vibrating with silent sobs.

"I know."

We we're silent for the rest of the short walk that seemed to go on forever before making our way to Madam Pomfrey's.

* * *

As unlucky as the day had been so far, it seemed to change for the better as we made our way to the hospital wing to find the door's already open. And even more fortunate, the nurse must have been called away to tend to another student, possibly fooling around carelessly in the stands, because as we made our way through the doors and down the wide hall, we saw her bent over through the drawn drapes around another cot.

I set Hermione down gently onto her own cot and stood to turn and attain the nurse's attention, but before I managed to open my mouth she had already seen us and was rushing our way.

"Another one succumbed to the Weasley Twins' ill-conceived prankathon?" She asked with a shake of her head. "I swear those boys are going to be the death of me-" She stopped as Hermione came into clear view of her.

"It vasn't the Veasley's- it vas-" I hesitated and looked back at Hermione; her eyes begging. "I don't know vho it vas," I swallowed. "But it… it vasn't them, of this I am sure."

Madam Pomfrey asked in a shrill voice. "Well then who was it?" She demanded. "How do you not-"

"Vhen I got to her… vhen I found her. She vasn't clear of anything." I stated calmly. "Only that she had hit her head."

"When you found her?" She asked. "She wasn't at the tournament? What was she- oh, no matter, she's here now and that's what matters. I'll have her fixed up and cleaned up in no time. In the mean time, you can return to the tournament with the rest of your classmates. Thank you for brining her to me."

Every part of me was screaming at me to stay with her; to not leave her side. But another part of me, a bigger part of me, was louder and telling me I had somewhere else I needed to be, something else that I needed to be doing. And so as the nurse fled quickly away from Hermione and to her supply cabinet I bent down and whispered softly in her ear: _I know I made you a promise, and I broke that promise and I vill never forgive myself._ I paused and kicked myself mentally. _I'll be damned if I don't make this better. I'll come back for you._ I then kissed her softly on the temple, and left.

TBC


	12. Mr Diggory

**Whatever Will Be, Will Be**

Chapter Twelve: Mr. Diggory

**Cedric's POV**

"It's really not that bad." I insisted as Madam Pomfrey directed my friends to lay me onto a lonesome and depressed looking cot. "Really, I can hardly even feel it. I've never felt better." I lied through a painfully forced smile.

"Mr. Diggory, that will be quite enough out of you. You have third degree burns and a sprained knee; you're staying here until my direct order otherwise! You need to heal!" She empathized as Toby and Marcus plopped down onto chairs on opposite sides of me. "Ah, what do you two think you're doing?"

"We were just going to-" Marcus began.

"Just going to leave!" She shouted; cutting him off. "Out! He needs to heal; he has had quite enough excitement for one day! Now out, out! OUT!" She demanded as she pointed towards the door.

"Sorry Ced!" They called in unison as they backed quickly towards the door.

"Don't come back!" She shouted after them. "He'll find you when he is good and healed! He's not the only one in here who needs resting- I can see you standing in the hallway Mr. Wilbur and Winchester! Leave! Go to your House _now_!"

"Honestly, Madam Pomf-"

"I said enough out of you Mr. Diggory!" She demanded again as she began applying cream quickly across my burns, "You need to relax and let your body heal. I wouldn't be doing my job if I let you just socialize and enjoy yourself while your body was neglected proper care! Now please, try and get some rest!" She told me before sealing the bottle of cream and turning her back and walking off towards her office, where she disappeared behind a dimly lit doorway.

"This is ridiculous," I said cantankerously to myself, "I can relax better with friends, without them I'll be bored to tears."

I let out a short sigh and looked down at my exposed chest, covered in red burns and white cream that the nurse had violently smeared on me. But my knee, being sprained, there really was nothing to do with it, other than let it just heal itself. A break: fixable, missing bones: still fixable. But sprained? No, just gotta let that one fix itself… ridiculous. They can re-grow an entire arm or leg of bones but they can't mend a sprain? Just. My. Luck. I'll be on crutches for the next month!

And how the hell did Fleur and Nikolai get away with hardly a scratch? It's just not fair…

I puffed out my cheeks and held in the air for a moment while placing the palms of my hands gingerly over my eyes and thinking how very unfair all of this was. This was my school, not theirs, yet I am the one lying bored and alone in the Hospital Wing and Fleur didn't even as much walk away with a broken fingernail! And Nikolai, well, being Bulgarian just makes you that much tougher, which, in itself is extremely unfair. And not to mention the… _really_? I am _really_ playing the pity game right now? God I'm pathetic…

I let the air slowly seep from my lips as I pulled my hands from my eyes and slammed my arms back down to my sides, where I then tapped my fingers rhythmically against the cot to try and end the maddening silence…

"Hermione?" I asked softly as I zoned my attention to the only other occupied cot in the room, where lay a beautiful and distraught girl. She looked over at me with sad eyes without speaking and waved her hand gently once, and then curled it back down against her chest and took her eyes from me.

I opened my lips to speak again, but was cut short as loud and thudding footsteps rushed into the room and flurried past my cot, heading straight to hers. She looked up at him as he cupped her hand in his. "Ron," She said softly as he looked down at her gently. "I'm sorry I-"

"Mr. Weasley!" Madam Pomfrey bellowed as she reappeared and marched over to the pair. "You can't be in here now, she needs rest! You'll have to wait until she has been released to see her!"

"But can't I jus-"

"No!" She told him sternly. "Mr. Weasley, these two need rest! We've got Mr. Diggory with severe burns and a sprained knee and your friend Miss Granger with a bad head injury and several cuts and bruises! They both need rest, and they can not do that when people come bombarding into the hospital every five minutes!"

"Just five-"

"Please kindly see yourself out, and do pass on the message for me. Otherwise I'll be having to perform a locking charm on the door to anyone who's not ill or injured."

"Madam Pomfrey, can't he please just stay a few-" Hermione begged.

"No, Miss Granger, I am sorry." Madam Pomfrey cut her off. "But as I told Mr. Diggory as his friends tried to stay; you two need rest. There'll be plenty of time to socialize afterwards.

"Now goodbye Mr. Weasley."

"Yeah," He said with a prolonged defeated sigh while looking down from Madam Pomfrey to Hermione. "Ciao Herm…" He trailed as he backed away from Hermione and Madam Pomfrey's stern scowl.

"Bye Ron."

"Madam Pomfrey, wh-"

"I've got work to do Miss Granger, and you've got healing to do." And she disappeared back into her office.

"Ridiculous." She murmured to herself while playing with the loose threads to her blanket. "Harry's been in here loads of times and he's always been able to have visitors… since when do we need to be isolated…

"The one time I actually need someone and you're just a b-… stupid woman."

As I opened my mouth to speak Madam Pomfrey came storming back into the room and went speeding past the ends of both of our cots. She then pulled her wand from her apron and taped the door handle once and whispered a charm I couldn't quite make out. Most likely the one she had been threatening to perform to keep Hermione and I -as Hermione put it- isolated.

Hermione and I watched her rush from one end of the room to the other, and back into her office and behind her slamming door with looks of astonishment on our faces. It was not commonly known for a nurse to threaten to put up a locking charm on the door, let alone actually do it.

Friends had always been allowed to visit the Hospital wing if the patience's weren't seriously injured. And my burns could happen to anybody, and my knee was merely sprained. Hermione, asides from her head injury, only had a few cuts and bruises. And apart from her clear emotional state of anguish, appeared to be much healthier than others who had spent time here… So, then why the sudden change in rules?

"Hermione…" I began slowly as she looked over at me. "…what happened to you?"

It took her a moment to respond, it looked as though she were trying to pull an excuse quickly from her pocket.

"I just… tripped." She told me carefully. "Careless, really." She laughed sheepishly. "I had just finished talking with Draco, and was headed back to watch the rest of the first task when he had said something. So I turned around, because I couldn't quite catch it over the cheering of the crowd, and when I did I twisted my ankle and also there was a rock just beneath my foot, and so I lost my balance and fell over backwards. And as it turns out there were quite a lot of loose ends and rocks where I was, because as I hit the ground my head bashed onto a rock."

"I heard Krum brought you in?" I asked her. "I mean, I'm not nosy or anything, but it's just I had passed him on the way here and he was muttering something about Malfoy and you. And I… I didn't quite catch what he saw saying…"

"Oh?" She asked me subtly. "Well, yes, another funny story really. Draco thought it would be safer if her left me there and ran off quickly to get help, rather than try and move me myself. And as it turns out at the same time Viktor needed to use the bathroom, and he saw me along the grass. He asked and I told him Draco went to get help, but he drew up the conclusion that Draco was just too lazy to help me himself."

"What were you and Draco talking about then?" I wondered. "Before you tripped I mean, what was it that you didn't hear?"

"Oh, that," She hesitated. "He was… we were… he was just… I had told him how Fred and George were taking bets; on who would win… he told me it was a silly idea to vote on something so unpredictable."

"Hermione, you know you don't have to lie to me." I told her with a soft and gentle voice. "I heard Madam Pomfrey; she said you've got cuts and bruises as well. And I reckon the way she was on about them they aren't exactly on their way to healing. She sounded as if you'd got them along with your head injury…" I trailed as she looked back down at her hands.

"Oh, well, that. You see I-"

"What were you sorry about?" I cut her off from lying again. "When Ron came in, you told him you were sorry for something?

"Hermione… what really happened?" I asked as I sat myself up. "You can trust me." My voice was calm and even as I looked over at her with deep, sympathetic, sincere eyes.

"I don't know." She whispered limply. "Cedric, I don't… I… he… I was just…" Her breathing hollowed as her eyelids fluttered endlessly.

I sat all the way upright in my bed and pulled myself swiftly from it and began quickly hopping towards her. I knew I might get shank'd if Madam Pomfrey caught me out of my cot, but I couldn't let Hermione be alone in the dire state she was in…

"Cedric, don't!" She told me. "If Madam Pomfrey sees you! You need to heal!"

"I can heal just as well over here next to you as I can over there."

The Hermione I normally knew to always need explanation and reason for everything seemed to be vacant from her body as she went on.

She told me about how (as much to my displeasure) Krum and her had kissed after Malfoy had preformed the Imperio curse on her for his own sick pleasure, and how she had promised to break up with him. And after a few free falling tears, she went on to describe the events that played out and eventually turned into Malfoy raping her, and thus winding her in the Hospital wing. And she had also told me about Krum's promise to her, and how, regardless of her knowing not everyone can be everywhere, she wasn't sure if she could trust him anymore. Despite how much she wanted to… the one time it counted, he hadn't been there.

I held her securely in my arms against my now lightly scarred chest as she cried her heart out; she had blamed herself. Said if she had only listened to me, and Harry and Ron and Krum in the first place it would have never happened. And I told her how what he did would have happened regardless of anything, but if I had been able to I would have stopped him in a heartbeat.

And I held her for longer. Thinking, guiltily, how wonderful and warm she felt in my arms. I knew this wasn't the time nor the place to be thinking of such things, but I couldn't help relish in the feeling of actually doing the one thing I had been fantasizing about for months.

In the end, she had fallen asleep in my arms after I had crawled onto her cot beside her. But was woken up most rudely with a start after only ten minutes by the booming and thunderous sound of…

"MR. DIGGORY!"

TBC

* * *

**AN: **I am sorry it's up late! But, it is longer, so I have that favoring me, right? Also, whoa do I have a busy week this week! I am not sure how many updates I will be able to punch out and have up on time! Well, wish me luck, and the next update (which will be up on time; Tuesday the first) will be what you all have been waiting for, and wondering: What is Viktor going to do to Malfoy once he finds the little weasel? Well, stay tuned! Also, there _may_ be a little bit of fluff in the end of the chapter… just saying… I'll leave you guys to wondering with who…  
Also, I have a poll up on my profile regarding Harry Potter, if you took it it would really help me out with what you guys (my readers) would like to see happen next from me...


	13. Eternity

**Whatever Will Be, Will Be**

Chapter Thirteen: Eternity

**Viktor's POV**

"Put's a pathetic name to our school." He went on as I watched discreetly from the hallway. "It's bad enough he was picked as champion. If only the tournament had waited a couple years; it might've been me up there. And if it were, I'd show everyone how it's really done.

"I mean honestly, out of all three champions he's the only one who ends up in the Hospital? What a way to make our school shine its colors." He said sarcastically before taking a small drink from his mug.

"He's been Hufflepuff Captain and Seeker for a year, what d'you mean it's bad he was chosen?" A girl with choppy black hair and pale skin asked him. "I thought we couldn't have had anyone better selected."

"How about you Blaise; how do you feel about Diggory?"

"I've never been given a reason not to like him. And from what I've seen of him on the Quidditch pitch, the man knows what he's doing. I think Hogwarts has a fair chance of winning with him sponsoring us."

"That's Quidditch, and it's completely beside the point!" He snapped. "Are you two completely overlooking the fact that he got completely scorched by that dragon? I mean talk about pathetic."

"Are you being serious right now Draco?" The girl asked him quizzically. "It was a dragon; a fair few make it out alive when faced with a dragon in the wild. But this one was chained up and placed in the same dome and he was with no escape. If you ask me he did just as well as anyone would have done if they were put in that situation."

"Yeah, 'sides Draco, you weren't even there to see it. So who are you to criticize for something you've only heard about?" The boy called Blaise said.

"The fact remains that he was the only one out of all three of them to get hurt. And I needn't have been there to be able to criticize _that_."

"Where were you, anyway?" The girl asked him after a few moments of silence.

"I was just walking around. I figured its less time wasting than just sitting around and watching people battle dragons and steal their golden eggs.

"No. I Figured I'd get a few things taken care of while the rest of the school was preoccupied."

"Not quite the _rest_ of the school, was it?" The girl wondered. "I didn't see Granger there, either. I mean, not like I was looking or anything… but the girl does stand out in places."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Malfoy barked.

"Well, as much as I hate saying it and as much as it pains me to say it… the girl _is _uncommonly beautiful Draco. It's just a pity she doesn't have better blood."

"It's true." Blaise agreed with a smirk and a nod. "She wasn't exactly flawless first year, but, as time has been going by…" He trailed. "There was a time when I even considered-"

"What's that?" Malfoy cut him off shortly.

"Nothing, nothing…"

Malfoy shook his head and looked annoyed. "Alright, guys, how _exactly _did we go from the tournament to my ex's looks?"

"Ex?" The girl asked him. "You mean you broke it off with her?"

"Kind of, it's a bit too complicated to get into right now." He told them. "But no, she broke it off with me, so…"

"Oh, I'm sorry Draco." The girl comforted him. "I mean not to say that I'm not relieved or anything, I'm only sorry she broke it off with you before you got the chance to do it to her."

"Do what to her?" He asked quickly.

"Break … it … off. With her…" She said slowly. "What did you think I meant?" She asked as she looked over at Blaise, who looked at her just as curiously.

"Nothing, I knew what you meant." He mumbled. "Listen, guys, I've gotta go. I'll catch you in the common room later."

* * *

"Are you sure you're alright?" He insisted after Hermione had made her way from the prison of the Hospital and was back in her own common room with the comfort of her redheaded friend. "You looked awful Hermione, and I mean _awful_…"

"I know Ron. I know how bad I looked, I don't need your constant reminding." She said while stifling a yawn. "And yes, I am fine. My head twinges a bit, but Madam Pomfrey said it should be fine my tomorrow morning as the latest's. Other that that I am fine."

"_Physically_." He mumbled. "Herm… Hermione, how are you doing?" He asked her before taking both her hands in his. "Really? I know what happened, the only reason I'm here right now and not off killing Malfoy is because I wanted to be here when you got back… and, well, I also saw Krum on a murderous hunt on my way to the Hospital. Kept saying he was going to _fix_ something or something to that effect… Really I had no idea what he was talking about, didn't make any sense at all, I didn't ask him, though, 'course. Do you know what he meant? I mean does that make any sense to you?" He wondered quickly. "Oh, but then I guess it doesn't really matter, so long as Malfoy gets what's coming to him."

"Ron." She huffed. "Ron." She smiled. "I know that you're trying to be comforting, but at the risk of being rude… can you please just, not? Can you please just… sit here with me? I have… I have a lot I need to think about. And this, talking, it's just…" She trailed off.

"Of course." He said softly, and the two sat in silence.

Hermione looked deeply into the red hot flames of the fire, and listened to the soothing sounds of its familiar popping and sizzling as it roared softly in her ears; her arms folded gingerly in her lap. She wanted so badly to cry. She wanted to scream and rip her own heart out to stop its pain. She felt as if she could go crazy and just scream profanities to herself through the bathroom mirror and slap herself for her own stupidity.

Why had she stayed with Draco, no… Malfoy… _Malfoy_… why had she stayed with _Malfoy_ for so long? Why did she even get with him in the first place? But, more importantly, why had _he_ gotten with _her_ in the first place? All he had been doing throughout their entire acquaintanceship beforehand was make fun of her and put her down, not to mention her friends as well.

Hermione Granger: the filthy little mudblood. Ron Weasley: a member of a pureblood Wizarding family that disgraced wizards everywhere because of his family's lack of wealth. And Harry Potter: Nothing wrong with him at all, except the fact that he was famous and a better seeker than Malfoy would ever be even in his wildest dreams, which drove him mad.

Hermione cupped her hands softly around her face and let out a deep, suppressed, sigh.

She was exhausted. She wanted to sleep.

She slowly dropped her hands from her face and allowed them to fall loosely into her lap, where they then slid carelessly to her sides and onto the surface of the soft couch. She breathed deeply and slowly as she dropped her head backwards and closed her eyes.

She didn't blame him, Viktor, for what happened. Though she knew from the last thing he had told her after seeing her off at the Hospital that he blamed himself. And looking at it through his eyes, she understood how he could blame himself. But through anybody else's eyes, including her own, it was all too clear whose fault it really was… her own. _She'd_ been the one who ignored everybody else's warnings and cautions. _She'd_ been the one who kept telling herself he would change; get better. _She'd _been the one who stayed with him all the time. And _she_ was the one who decided to break up with him with no one else around. But most of all… _she'd _been the one who didn't pull out her wand all of the times he had hurt her, or threatened her. _She _didn't pull out her wand when he was about to force himself on top of her…

Small, inconspicuous tears escaped the corners of Hermione eyes as she thought harder and harder on the last reason why it had all been her fault. Hermione Granger, the schools most intelligent, library-obsessed, know-it-all. Turns out books and cleverness aren't everything. In fact, apart from either of the two, she was the stupidest and most unintelligent student that had probably ever walked the halls of Hogwarts… in its entire thousand plus years standing.

She swallowed hard as a warm hand intertwined its fingers with hers.

Turns out inconspicuous isn't so much inconspicuous with close friends…

"I'm right here Hermione." He whispered to her softly while leaning himself crookedly against the back of the couch with his the side of his head propped at an angle so as to be able to watch her more closely.

She wanted to tell him she knew, but she couldn't bring herself to. She knew that if she opened her mouth all that would come out would be silly uncontrollable sobs. And as much as she cared for Ron as a friend, he was not the person Hermione wanted to be held by nor comforted by in that way. Hermione knew Ron had feelings for her, and had had feelings for her ever since she had gotten petrified in second year; he wasn't too discreet about hiding them. And Hermione, along with others, had suspected his reason for this because he thought that maybe Hermione might see that he liked her, and return the same advances. But Hermione would not return these advances, because she did not want to send him any mixed messages. She had no secret feelings for Ron, not would she ever. Ron was her friend; one of her best ones at that, and nothing in the world would change that. She never wanted anything more or less from Ron, and she didn't want to confuse him. She had, after all, already broken her rule of no mixed-message-sending by allowing Cedric Diggory to share her cot with her whilst in the Hospital.

If Viktor had seen that… if he had seen that… if he had walked in on that… what would he have thought of her? Would he think badly of her? Would he… would he hate her for it? Would he think that Hermione had feelings for Cedric, and that she had only been using him, Viktor, because he had shown a tendency to show up before dangerous situations had time to play out? Or would he understand that she was just a female, a dreadful, emotional wreck who just needed someone to listen?

She had told Cedric that she wasn't sure if she would be able to trust Viktor again, when, in truth… she had only said that because she was scared. She wasn't scared of not being able to trust him, but scared of how much she already did trust him. She hardly knew him, yet she couldn't fight the trust and comfort she found by being with him. When she was with him she felt safer than she ever had in her entire life. And though he was not there to stop Malfoy from taking her innocence, he had been the one to found her. She had heard, and saw him, running to her as she was lying bleeding and nearly unconscious on the ground. She had seen as he had almost cried about not being able to protect her from danger.

And when they kissed… it was like… it was like the entire world stopped, and all that existed was them and his arms wrapped around her, and his chest pressed against hers and they breathed as one; his warmth filtering gently into her. The way he had said her name, it wasn't like a demand or an annoyance or a statement… but a prayer, a gentle suggestion and thankfulness. A promise.

As the tears falling freely from Hermione eyes increased, she had to hold her breath in heaps at a time to stop herself from bursting out in a fit of thick sobs. And she knew it then, she realized it then, she wasn't crying because of Malfoy. She was crying because of Viktor…

She was in love with him.

* * *

It was twilight now; the sky outside blue and gold with splashes of purple and flex of pink and orange… it was the perfect contradiction to the night I was about to have.

I knew Hermione would never forgive me for not being able to protect her; it was hard enough to have to live with that. But just standing around while the _child_ who beat and abused and cursed and raped her goes freely… it was not in my character. Even if she already hated me, I would at least fix what I had done wrong in the first place to at least hope to make it a little better.

The scum was sitting absentmindedly at the back of the library, with his face turned hazily towards the window and his hands folded neatly in his lap. It was too early to do anything yet, there were too many people still in the vicinity. I would have to wait for it to become more vacant, and if he left before then, then I'd just follow him. But, for now I would just have to take a hidden seat and wait.

I watched him for I don't know how long, as the sun slowly sunk lower and lower into the horizon, fading the night sky outside into almost a complete blackness. The only thing now illuminating the library was the vast amounts of candles surrounding the room; it was almost empty now. I would only have to wait a little longer.

He flipped through book after book, merely skimming pages other than taking anything in. It made me wonder if he hadn't been doing his own work lately, if he had been having Hermione do it for him.

And at last, after probably a half of an hour or so, he finally stood up. He let out a long, shaky yawn and extended his arms above his head and arched his back to stretch.

I followed him mutely out of the library, carefully taking footstep at a time as he carelessly bounced off the walls from, what I imagined to be, tiredness.

He rounded a corner, and that's when I sprang at him; sending my closed fist into the side of his head and instantly knocking him out cold.

I dragged his unconscious body into an empty classroom and dropped his harshly onto the floor after kicking the door closed with the heel of my boot. I then pulled my wand from my pocket and put a simple, yet effective locking charm on the door, and then charmed the whole of the area with a powerful sound-proof charm.

I got impatient after about ten minutes or so, and jumped down from the desk I had perched myself from and slapped the limp boy hard across the face.

Still nothing.

"Vake up." I told him irritably. "Vake up…" Slap. "Vake up…" Slap. "Vake up…" I let out a grunt before slapping him one more time and shouting, "VAKE UP!"

He merely moaned out a little and twitched his head, thinking he was waking; I stood up and let out a sigh. But as I looked down at his body, his head flopped back down to the side.

I bent back down, now more irritated than before, and was readying myself to strike him yet again, when his eyes fluttered open.

"Oh, good." I told him with a friendly smile. "You're avake. I vas about to hit you again, and it really isn't as fun hitting you vhen you don't react." I told him. "It is much more fun vhen I vatch you call out in pain." I stood and walked over to the desk I had beet sitting on before and looked over at him. "Vhat? Nothing to say?

"I see… I guess that means you are going to have to just stand there and listen me talk for a vhile, yes?" Still nothing. "Alright then. I hate you. I hate you more than the meaning of the vord. You, Draco Malfoy, are a pathetic excuse for a man and give the rest of us a bad name. You take advantage of a beautiful young voman and beat her. You hit her, and yell at her, thro things at her, you shove her against valls. You curse her, and you try and rape her. And vhen you vern't successful the first time, you try again. Only this time you succeed."

"Why do you care so bloody much?" He asked after a moment. "She's just a stupid mudblood, not like she's actually worth anything."

I stepped forward with a stern face and looked at him silently. Without him having a chance to even register what was about to happen, I decked him firmly in the nose with a clenched fist. He hollered out in pain and clamped his hand over his bleeding nose and looked up at me from where he had fallen to the ground.

"If you ever, _ever_ call her that again… or speak about her like that…" I was fuming, I couldn't even think of the words I had been about to say.

And without warning to either party, my anger had reached a climax so intense that I could no longer remember anything. Except that he had to pay. He had to suffer for what he had done.

I bent down faster than I thought my body was able to move and ripped him from the floor by the collar of his jacket and held him in the air before me. "M-my father."

I didn't give him a chance to finish. I threw him back to the ground and planted the toe of my right boot swiftly into his side, and he called out in pain, and as he did, I saw Hermione.

I saw Hermione in my mind, screaming, and begging him to stop. Begging him to stop hitting her, stop slapping her or kicking her. _To stop raping her._

Every assault I gave him, it was not him I heard screaming, but her.

"Please!" – _"Please Draco!"_

My fist landed hard against his cheek after I had slammed him against the wall.

"I'm sorry!" – _"I'm sorry!"_

"Please stop!" – _"Please stop!"_

I lifted my knee between his legs and he grunted against me before I let him fall to the ground with his hands clenched tightly over himself. And I took the opportunity to plant my knee twice against his face, before bringing my fist back down to his cheek and knocking him sideways to the ground.

I began shouting at him, and decking either his nose or cheek between each word. "ROT – IN – HELL – YOU – STUPID – PATHETIC – VEAK – USELESS – PIECE – OF – SCUM!" I was now holding him up with my left hand and beating him with my right, and my knee was propping him upwards against the wall to prevent him falling down. "IF – YOU – EVER – EVEN – LOOK – AT – HER – AGAIN – I – SVEAR – THIS – VILL - SEEM – LIKE – A – FRIENDLY – PAT – FROM – A – FRIEND!"

His face was bloody, bruised and swollen. But still, with every grunt or cry, all I could see or hear was her.

I finally stood up, changed my mind, and bent down and hit him once more.

It wasn't until he coughed up blood that I stopped. And even then, I wasn't finished.

I took his right hand and forced him to ball it into a fist, and then slammed it hard as I could into the stone floor, and didn't stop until I heard bones breaking.

"I made a promise to her." I said after I was properly satisfied while kneeling in front of him. "And I broke that promise. But be assured, this one I vill not break. If you ever touch her again I vill kill you."

* * *

Hermione stood with her forearms resting gently against the edge of the stone railing as she looked out onto the dark scene before her.

If someone had been walking by and saw her, they would think she was just a relaxed student admiring the beautiful night scenery before her. They would have never guessed she had tears wetting her cheeks, or that more were coming profusely with each passing second.

But I was not just someone, and I could see it without even having to look at her face. She was in pain, and it put me through more torture than being thrown into a wildfire or being dumped into a bucket of boiling acid. I could handle those any hour of any day. But this, seeing her in pain… that was the real torture.

I walked up to her and placed my hand softly onto her shoulder, and she spun her head quickly around and looked up at me. When she saw who I was, I expected her to shy away and even ignore me. But instead her face formed into a weary smile and her tears multiplied as she spun her body around and wrapped her arms around my shoulders and sobbed into my chest.

I let out a breath of nervous air I had been holding in and slid my arms around her and held her tightly against me. And without even realizing it, I had been trembling and my knees buckled before I even had a chance to stop it. And the both of us dropped klutzily to the ground, but neither of us paid it any true notice. I pulled her into my lap as we hit the ground and held her tighter still and rubbed her back soothingly.

"I'm here Hermione." I whispered softly now that her sobs had lightened. "I told you I vould come back for you."

She sniffed her nose softly as she pulled her head away from my chest and looked into my eyes.

"He isn't going to touch you again." I told her lightly as I slid my hand up and cupped it softly around her cheek, and she leaned into my touch and placed her small hand over mine.

"I didn't mean for it to happen…" She told me.

"I know, it vasn't your fau-"

"No." She corrected me softly while shaking her head and pulling my hand from her cheek and holding it securely in her small ones. "Not that. I mean… I…"

"Vhat is it?" I asked her gingerly.

"I didn't mean to fall in love with you." Her voice was hardly a whisper, I probably wouldn't have heard her if my hearing hadn't been so good. "And I understand if… I understand if you don-"

I cut her off as I gently placed my lips onto hers and kissed her slowly.

As I pulled my lips from hers her eyes slowly opened. "I have loved you since the first moment I ever saw you… I've been in love vith you since I stopped that Bludger from hitting you." I told her as her chin trembled slightly. "You're all I have been able to think about since that night. I found you because I… I can feel you, Hermione. In here." I told her as I placed the palm of her hand over my heart. "The night vhen Nikolai found you crying my name… I didn't know vhat to think vhen he told me about it. I came to you as fast as I could.

"And vhen you are in my arms… it's the only thing that matters to me." I told her as I ran my hand across her cheek and into the tangles of her hair. "You're the only thing that matters to me."

We were silent as I scooted backwards and leaned my back against the stone wall.

"I love you." Hermione whispered softly as she looked up at me. "But I'm scared."

She had loved Malfoy at one point, and I knew that. And what he had done to her… I would spend the rest of my life undoing. I would spend the rest of my life doing nothing less than loving her, protecting her, comforting her and holding her and giving her everything she deserved.

As I looked into her eyes I knew she had never loved him even remotely as close to how much she loved me, or I loved her. It was love at first sight for me; I had always loved her…

"I know." I whispered back before leaning down and kissing her forehead softly, and then leaning mine against hers for a few moments before bring my head back up to look down at her contently.

We played with our hands for what seemed like ever. Just lacing our fingers together and unlacing them. Sometimes we would cup our hands together and just hold them there for what we thought was eternity.

And that's how long we would stay like this; happy, content, comfortable, in love…

For Eternity.

**THE END**

* * *

**AN: **So, that, my good readers, is the product of 1) Five hours of sleep when my body is used to ten – thirteen. 2) Writers block, and 3) Determination to finish the chapter!

And, as you can see by the ending there saying THE END, it is clearly the end of the story. However, I might (by might I mean might… it is late, 1:30am, but hey, isn't insomnia fun!) be thinking about writing a sequel, about their happy life together. (and of course I'd add some twists!) But I am not sure, I have never actually written a sequel before and don't know if I would be any good at it… so, for those of you who think it might be a good idea, or if it would be something you would be interested in reading, just leave it in a review and I will take it into consideration.

And lastly, I have recently finished another one of my stories, and people weren't too happy about it. So, this is me asking you to please not leave me any nasty or rude reviews about finishing the story when you didn't want it to end. I personally was not going to end the story at this chapter, but and I was wrapping it up I thought it would be a perfect ending, and also saw, and thought, if I didn't end it there I would have severe writers block next chapter and not post another chapter for like six months (which, for this story, was not an uncommon happening!) So, to all of you who have stuck with me since the beginning, thank you! And to the rest of you who came across my story later and liked it, thank you too!

I personally think the story ended beautifully. And that is not just coming from the writer, but as a reader too. Seeing how you have to read something in order to write it… yay sleeplessness!

XOXO – Bella Diggory


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